About Medical Imaging
Miami Valley Hospital (MVH) Medical Imaging has a team of 20 credentialed radiologists with an average of 10 years’ experience. The team is available for patients around the clock.
24-Hour Imaging
With MVH Medical Imaging radiologists and technologists available at all times, emergency room (ER) and Trauma can request scans and have them read at any time of day or night. Being a 24-hour facility, we have an ultra-fast turnaround time and are the only facility in Dayton that offers 24-hour coverage of radiologists.
General radiology, CT, ultrasound, and vascular ultrasound are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. MRI is available from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. with radiologists on call 24 hours a day. Nuclear medicine is available 24 hours a day, six days a week, and the staff is on call the remaining Saturday night. Night Hawk Radiology is on call for supplemental radiologist support if needed.
MVH Medical Imaging includes:
MVH's Imaging performs many types of scans that enable physicians to see what's wrong with a patient. This includes x-rays or radiology, CT or computed tomography scans, PET (positron emission tomography) scans, MRI or scans, nuclear medicine, mammography, and ultrasound. These types of scans provide the basis for most medical imaging. MVH does about 325,000 of these procedures a year. About one out of three are done for the ER.
X-ray has been around a long time but has received a dramatic upgrade at MVH in the form of digital x-rays. A great advantage of digital x-ray is that these images are available almost immediately after taking and can be viewed by a physician in the same room, across town or on the other side of the world.
MVH's state-of-the-art cameras give physicians a sharper image that can instantly be magnified to spot tiny evidence of big problems. About 50 percent of the imaging done at MVH is x-rays, and many of these are done in the ER.
CT scans used to be called CAT scans. CT is a cross-sectional imaging procedure. The CT scanners at MVH are capable of taking many images and then combining them in a computer for a very accurate three-dimensional view. CT growth has been in the double digits for the last several years and has become key in the patient workup. People with kidney stones, abdominal pain, pulmonary emboli, and headaches may receive a CT. MVH is also using Coronary CT Angiography, where the arteries of the heart can be examined without an invasive angiogram.
MRI technology uses radio frequencies and magnets as opposed to x-rays. MRI is better for soft tissue evaluation than conventional x-rays are.
PET images are three-dimensional images. PET scans can see into the body's organs and tissue to spot metabolic problems. PET allows a physician to spot issues earlier than other forms of imaging. It is especially valuable in tumor imaging. Before the scan, a radioactive tracer is injected into the patient, which is visible in the image.
A combination PET/CT scanner is now being used with combined images that can show an even more complete picture.
Ultrasound is a form of sonar. It creates and monitors sound that is well above the human hearing range. It is most commonly thought of as a way to monitor pregnancies, but ultrasound is a valuable tool in imaging many other areas of the body. It can visualize organs, veins, lesions, and even fluid levels.
Ultrasound uses a hand-held probe that can be placed on the body to target a scan to a very specific area. A Doppler ultrasound is essentially an ultrasound movie. A radiologist can compare frames of the movie to track flow within the body, like blocked blood flow.
Fluoroscopy is also done at MVH. It is often used to examine the upper GI tract through a barium swallow or a lower GI tract through a barium enema. Other uses are for swallowing studies for trauma or stroke patients, or to check the stomach and digestion after bariatric surgery.
Vascular Lab
MVH's vascular lab is accredited to do peripheral arterial testing as well as extra cranial cerebrovascular testing and peripheral venous testing.
Nuclear Medicine
Nuclear Medicine uses a radioactive tracer. It's making advances in oncology and cardiology, where scans can check coronary arteries for flow.
As imaging technology has improved, radiologists get a clearer, faster picture of a patient’s condition. This is especially important in ER and Trauma, where time and an accurate assessment of a patient's condition is of the essence. This also means patients undergo fewer invasive exploratory procedures than they did just a few years ago, thanks to a better image.