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RANDOLPH, Dec. 12, 2007 – Gifford Medical Center has added a new digital ultrasound machine to its diagnostic testing offerings.
The new ultrasound, a GE LOQIC 9, is an upgrade of a prior machine and provides radiologists – and consequently patients – a better quality image for making diagnoses and is easier for technologists to use.
The machine, says ultrasound technologist Jane Harrness, “uses ultrasound to look at various soft tissue areas in the body.” Examples are the thyroid to diagnose thyroid disease, babies in the womb, the gall bladder, kidneys, the aorta, reproductive systems, leg veins to rule out deep vein thrombosis and carotid arteries to look for carotid artery disease.
“It’s a wonderful machine,” Harrness says. “It’s user friendly, which makes it easier
for us to get good pictures.”
The machine hooks to Gifford’s PACS (picture archive and communications) filmless radiology system, is more ergonomically correct for technologists to use, has a larger, flat screen and offers improved technology. Ultrasound technologists, for example, can now change the contrast of an image and do some sharpening to improve its quality.
The machine – a needed update for the hospital – is also both faster to use and sends electronic images more quickly than the hospital’s old machine, ultrasound technologist Mary-Beth Gacetta adds.
“It’s good for the technologists to use so we can make the best image, and it’s good for the patients so they can receive the most up-to-date technology out there,” Harrness says.
The new technology in Gifford’s Radiology Department arrived at the hospital in late November and is currently in use. It is one of several recent diagnostic equipment upgrades, including a new nuclear medicine gamma camera and cardiac stress testing system.