Posted on

2022 Health Trends: Healthcare Sector and Technology

Top Healthcare Trends in 2022 and Beyond

Technological advancement has grown exponentially in the past decade. The healthcare sector is one of the many businesses that technology has heavily disrupted.

Today, big and small companies are using it to cultivate their growth. For advanced technology and state-of-the-art medical imaging equipment, contact Catalina Imaging today.

In this blog, we’ll talk about five trends that are disrupting and will further disrupt healthcare in the future. Let’s begin.

5 Trends That Will Transform the Healthcare Industry

1. AI and machine learning

Thanks to its massive potential, AI is the most influential tech in the health sector. For instance, it can help healthcare teams accurately diagnose patients and suggest personalized treatments depending on several factors.

Moreover, machine learning is used on mobile apps to display relevant information for people suffering from certain illnesses. For example, patients can now check their symptoms and understand what’s ailing them. That’s without the need to visit a hospital physically.  

Healthily (Your.MD) is one such company using this tech. In 2020, the global self-care platform experienced a 350% user growth in the last 12 months.

AI can also significantly boost the expertise of clinicians. They call it augmented intelligence. It’s where AI acts as an assistant to the clinician to improve their medical knowledge. In short, AI enhances a clinician’s expertise rather than replacing them entirely.

2. Wearables as healthcare tools

Smartwatches and fitness trackers are healthcare trends that are only going to grow moving forward. Their evolution has allowed them to penetrate the medical industry through 24-hour monitoring, real-time measurements, and data gathering capabilities.

A recent example would be Apple collaborating with Johnson & Johnson for research regarding Heartline Study. The study aims to determine if Apple Watch’s electrocardiogram capabilities can decrease the chances of a stroke through early detection of afib or atrial fibrillation.

People with irregular heartbeat are prone to stroke. Thus, health experts can potentially mitigate or even prevent stroke by continuously monitoring at-risk individuals.

Another use of wearables is positive behavioral change. South Australia researchers found that wearables can encourage people to practice regular exercise.

The researchers analyzed 400 studies with 164,000 global participants using wearable activity trackers (WAT). They found that tracking one’s physical activity levels led people to walk up to 40 minutes daily. That’s roughly equivalent to 1,800 steps, resulting in an average weight loss of 1kg (2.2) over five months.

Of course, wearables aren’t exactly accurate, especially when comparing one exercise over the other. For instance, a 30-minute HIIT workout will have a varying caloric burn than a 30-minute run.

However, wearables are great at tracking your workout’s intensity over time. This can be an excellent source of an external motivator for a lot of people.

After all, it can be rewarding to see your progress outlined in your fitness tracker. And most of the time, people are hesitant to break their workout streak.

3. Virtual Healthcare

This is another healthcare trend that’s exploded in recent years. Globally, telehealth stood at $144.38 billion in 2020. By 2028, that number will balloon to $636.38 billion.

That massive growth isn’t surprising, especially given the impact of COVID-19. For instance, remote health consultations went from 0.1% to 43.5% during the first months of the pandemic. Those who avail of this service were contented with their experience too, particularly younger people. Gen Z and millennials have 86% and 83% satisfaction ratings, respectively.

Virtual healthcare is also highly beneficial for people in remote locations. For example, if an area doesn’t have a nearby physician on hand, patients can turn to virtual healthcare to assist them with their needs.

It isn’t perfect, of course. But places like China and India, where it’s extremely difficult to reach specific populations, stand to benefit the most.

4. Extended reality

Extended reality is a broad term encompassing mixed reality (MR), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). One of its primary uses is training clinicians on sensitive operations without putting patients at risk.

It can use VR to immerse the trainee in a virtual environment completely. Or it can rely on MR and AR to overlay virtual images on real-world objects.

Aside from training, extended reality is also used in cognitive behavioral therapy. Patients with anxiety, chronic pain, and schizophrenia can battle their fears in safe environments and non-threatening spaces.

For specific applications, the AccuVein system is a good example. It acts as a vein locator through blood flow heat detection, highlighting the vein on the patient’s arm and making it easier to insert injections.

5. Large data analysis

This is an extension of AI and machine learning applications in the medical sector. A sea of data from patients has inundated the healthcare industry.

Naturally, making sense of this vast information can be incredibly challenging. Fortunately, AI and machine learning are here to process this data.

For instance, AI can handle the workload instead of nurses and physicians conducting triage during first contact in the emergency room. As a result, it frees the medical team to oversee other crucial tasks in the hospital.

On a global scale, AI and machine learning can process data globally to make informed decisions about where and when an outbreak might occur. That preventive capability can save thousands, if not millions, of lives.

Healthcare Trends in 2022: What the Future Holds

With technology advancing at an exponential rate, it’s uncertain what the medical sector will look like in the future. But one thing is certain: the merging of humans and machines to deliver high-quality medical services will only grow from here.

That’s not counting massive corporations like Apple and Amazon increasingly involving themselves in healthcare. Of course, that can be a blessing or a curse depending on how everything unfolds.

But as it stands, it seems healthcare trends will highlight the convenience and accessibility that tech will bring forward. And that’s what Catalina Imaging aims to achieve. For more information about products and services, email us at info@catalinaimaging.com or call us at (844) 949-1664.

 

Posted on

Can CT and MRI Predict Free Flap Failure?

Predicting Free Flap Failure Using CT and MRI Scan

CT (computerized tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans have revolutionized the medical industry. Both can provide valuable images to the medical team regarding diseases and human anatomy.

Today, CT and MRI have plenty of uses, from diagnosing muscle disorders and detecting brain and spinal cord anomalies. But there is another area that experts are looking into where CT and MRI scans can help.

And that area is the free flap procedure.

In this blog, we’ll examine CT and MRI and whether or not both can predict the free flap method’s success rate. But before that, let’s define free flap and its uses.

What is a free flap procedure?

A free flap procedure is where a piece of tissue is disconnected from its original area and reconnected to a distant part to cover a wound. Then, the blood vessel of the said flap is sewn to another blood vessel to reestablish the connection.

That procedure is done with the use of microvascular surgery. Here, the two blood vessels are sewn back together under a microscope.

At Catalina Imaging, our experienced professionals use the latest diagnostic equipment to provide you with accurate and precise images that help to improve your health. Contact us today for more information about how we can help you get the best possible care!

A free flap procedure has a 95% success rate. However, failure isn’t uncommon either. If worse comes to worst, the process will result in the total loss of the flap. In this case, experts may carry out a new procedure, which still has an 89% success rate, although it’s technically demanding.

Thus, monitoring the flap to assess if the procedure will hold is better. If not, early detection is crucial to salvaging the flap.

Here’s where CT and MRI come in.

Can CT and MRI foresee free flap failure?

According to a Michigan University study, CT and MRI scans are promising avenues to explore when trying to predict if a flap will fail. It will allow surgeons to intervene early and conduct appropriate corrections if proven true.

Using CT scans and MRI scans, experts can examine patients who underwent the procedure to determine if the free flap is a success, says Ashok Srinivasan, M.D., FACR, senior author of the paper and neuroradiologist at the University of Michigan Health.

Srinivasan added that the areas they’re evaluating are the blood flow going in and out of the tissue. Depending on the findings, the patient may be discharged early or if further surgical intervention is required.

If it’s the former, it will significantly lower the cost of the patient’s hospitalization. People undergoing a free flap procedure are estimated to stay in the hospital for a week. If discharged early, it will save them a substantial sum.

It’s still too early to conclude

Despite the promising findings, however, it’s still too early to say whether or not CT scans and MRI scans can indeed predict free flap viability. The researchers still need to analyze more cases before a conclusion is drawn.

As it stands, only 19 successful cases have been evaluated by the researchers. An additional five more cases were also analyzed, which exhibited wound failure.

The researchers couldn’t compare the two methods against each other due to the small sample size. Nor were they able to contrast CT and MRI perfusion techniques to ultrasound techniques for the same reason.

Surgeons often use Doppler and skin paddle techniques to evaluate the viability of free flap reconstruction. Unfortunately, both methods aren’t able to examine deeper flap aspects. Air and blood products also obstruct evaluation, which considerably lessens its accuracy.

Hence, a more robust evaluation method like CT and MRI scans is needed. The next step is to determine which of the two is more effective and cost-efficient.

Key Takeaway

From the preceding discussion, it becomes obvious CT and MRI are valuable diagnostic tools to predict free flap failure. Particularly in critical-size defects, they can be helpful in judging the quality of microsurgical skills and avoiding maloperation.

 

 

For a reliable mobile medical image service provider, you can call Catalina Imaging at (844) 949-1664. You may also email us at info@catalinaimaging.com for more information.

Posted on

Who can perform a CT scan?

Who can perform a CT scan?

Computer tomography or CT scan is one of the most commonly performed medical imaging examinations to date. But as with any diagnostic test, it requires a team effort. In a nutshell, this team comprises a radiologist (they head the patient care team), nurses and CT technologists. 

 

For radiologists and hospital/medical facility managers looking for a reputable mobile CT scan rental provider, visit Catalina Imaging to learn more about our service. You can also fill out this contact form if you have any questions or requests. 

 

 

 

The CT scan team

Radiologists

They are physicians with specialist training (either residency or fellowship) who are often board certified. After obtaining their doctor of osteopathy degree or medical doctorate, they undergo additional training required by the American Board of Radiology. 

 

The additional training includes the use and interpretation of CT images and the safety standards and protocols, allowing them to interpret the results and send a detailed report to the referring physician.

 

These are the other tasks performed by radiologists: 

  • Administer or oversee the contrast injection
  • Perform CT-guided biopsy procedures and other similar interventions
  • Review the information gathered from the imaging procedure
  • Communicate the results to physicians and patients 

 

CT technologists 

They are specially trained to operate modern CT systems and typically receive two or more years of training in computed tomography and X-ray before they obtain their certification from the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists or ARRT. 

 

CT technologists also perform patient examinations under the supervision of a radiologist and administer the contrast injection if required. 

 

Radiology nurses

They are registered or enrolled nurses who care for all patients in the radiology department (either in a hospital or a private radiology practice). 

 

Radiology nurses routinely check IVs, monitor vital signs, administer medications and help patients with their personal needs.  

 

Catalina Imaging: Who We Are

At Catalina Imaging, the CT scanners we use in our trailers are from reputable tech companies like Toshiba, Siemens, and GE. Read more about the models we offer to our partner hospitals and medical facilities. 

 

We also have multiple service and storage locations in California, Minnesota, North Carolina and Illinois. You can read more about our mobile CT rental here. 

Posted on

Ways to promote a smooth workflow in your CT scan department

Ways to promote a smooth workflow in your CT scan department

For hospital or diagnostic imaging managers, one of the critical indicators of success is a smooth department workflow in which the patients are happy, the uptime is impressive, and all the stakeholders are efficient and stress-free (or at least most of the time). 

 

At Catalina Imaging, we have a large fleet of mobile CT scan rental trailers for hospitals and clinics that need CT scans from reputable tech companies like Toshiba, Siemens, and GE.  

 

 

Create an environment where everyone is accountable 

If you want your department to be efficient and patient-centered, the most important thing you need to do is create a system where everyone is accountable for their job. For instance, you need to designate people who will be responsible for ensuring that the patients are reminded a day or two before their scheduled test or a staff who will focus on taking a quick consulting call from a physician.

 

Listen to the stakeholders’ feedback

If you’re having problems like high employee turnover rate, high number of patient “no-shows” downtime, delays, etc., you need to meet with your team and ask for their feedback. 

 

Perhaps you need to add hours to accommodate the growing number of patients? Or maybe improve customer service and communications? Whatever it is, listening to your staff’s input shows that their welfare and opinion matter to you. 

Provide customer support training

Everyone in the team should know how to handle customer complaints and concerns, which is why you need to provide customer service training. It doesn’t have to be exhaustive; just a basic set of communication skills like saying, “I can help you find someone who can address your problem,” rather than telling a patient, “I can’t help you.”

 

Create an efficient system to avoid long waits

Long waits reduce patient satisfaction and affect your reputation and productivity. As a result, you need to adopt these strategies to avoid this issue: 

  • Frequent and transparent communications between patients and staff. For instance, someone should remind the patients a week, one day and a few hours before their scheduled CT scan. In short, transparency and excellent communications can go a long way. 
  • Speed up service time.
  • Implement a queue management system (in-location and even virtual queue if possible). 
  • Utilize queue data to optimize staffing. 

 

Reliability and Customer Service Key to Injector Uptime and CT Department Workflow

At Catalina Imaging, we have a large fleet of mobile CT scanners for clinics and hospitals looking for CT rentals with state-of-the-art technologies from Toshiba, Siemens, and GE. Visit our website and leave a message to learn more about our CT rental services in California, North Carolina, Illinois and Minnesota. 

Posted on

How to improve your patient no-show in the imaging department

How to improve your patient no-show in the imaging department

The imaging department has one of the highest patient no-show and reschedule rates, with one study suggesting that it could be as high as 35%. Meanwhile, failure to keep it under control can lead to a wide range of issues, from lost revenue and delayed patient care to underutilized staff and resources. 

 

If your hospital or medical facility is dealing with high patient no-show and reschedule rates, you need to know the reason behind this trend. But to give you an idea, there are common denominators that mobile CT scanners rental fleet provider Catalina Imaging has noticed: 

  • Financial anxiety 
  • Lack of communication between the patients and their doctors 
  • Failure to understand the procedure instructions 
  • Lack of transportation
  • Incomplete pre-authorization requirements 

 

Knowing the reasons for patient no-show is critical for creating policies and measures to reduce this costly problem that the radiology departments usually face.

 

How to reduce patient no-show 

As an industry leader with more than 50 years of combined experience in maintaining a mobile imaging rental fleet, Catalina Imaging has come up with this list of tried-and-tested recommendations.

 

Create an effective patient reminder system 

  • Ask your patients about their preferred method of reminders (e.g., email, text, and call).
  • Set up automatic reminders one week before the scheduled procedure, two days before, and one hour before the appointment. But for appointments that are scheduled more than eight weeks in advance, additional reminders become even more critical to reduce patient no-show rates. 
  • Allow patients to reschedule their appointments to fill the vacant spot and avoid underutilized resources and staff. 

 

Follow a streamlined pre-authorization process

  • Ideally, there should be a team that is responsible for imaging pre-authorization. 
  • Train this team and teach each member to have a sense of accountability. 
  • Create a system that immediately resolves pre-authorization delays and makes it easy for patients to reschedule their appointments. 

 

Promote constant communication with patients 

  • Ask patients or have them answer a survey to know their preferred method of communication. The idea here is to meet them where they are. 
  • If the language barrier is an issue, schedulers should mention that in the patient records. 
  • Create electronic medical records that your patients can access independently. 
  • Staff should explain the prep instructions and ask the patients about their concerns (finance-related, length of procedure, etc.)

 

Streamline your collection system

  • Ideally, require partial payment early on to increase the likelihood of full patient obligation. 
  • Be transparent with the prices so the patients will know the price estimates and prepare for them. 

 

Provide transport service 

  • Surveys have shown that transport barriers cause a significant number of patient no-shows.
  • Offer transportation services or partner with ride-sharing service providers. 
  • After implementing any of the measures mentioned above, continue tracking the no-show rates to assess whether they are effective or not.

 

Solving the Dilemma Created by the No-Show Patient

When your patients don’t show up for appointments, it extends your waiting list and wastes your resources (especially staffing). For this reason, you need to implement measures that limit the number of no-shows and reschedules. 

 

Another way hospitals and medical facilities can maximize their resources and avoid revenue loss is to partner with a reliable mobile CT scan rental fleet provider. At Catalina Imaging, we not just provide technical insights but also 24/7 customer support for service emergencies and full-service OEM contracts between 8 am and 5 pm Monday to Friday (except holidays). 

 

 

 

To learn more about how our mobile imaging fleet can meet your short- and long-term needs, contact us here. You can also text or call us at (844) 949-1664 or email us at info@catalinaimaging.com. 

Posted on

New mobile CT scanners use lower radiation dose

New mobile CT scanners use lower radiation dose

One of the reasons some patients are apprehensive about getting their CT scans is the radiation exposure. Fortunately, some scanners nowadays use lower radiation doses but are still able to provide a more detailed, accurate image. 

 

For instance, at Catalina Imaging, we manage a fleet of mobile CT scanners from reputable tech companies like Toshiba, GE and Siemens. Not only does our equipment use lower radiation doses, we also have a 24/7 customer service team to answer your inquiries and provide you service emergencies. To learn more about our mobile CT scan rental service, contact us here or call or text us at (844) 949-1664.

 

Modern medical imaging procedures and radiation risks

Despite the publication of some sensationalized articles about the radiation and cancer risks with medical imaging procedures, health authorities like the American Association of Physicists in Medicine believe that today’s technology uses radiation that is too low that the perceived risks “are barely detectable or even nonexistent.”

 

In 2005, experts also conducted a study in which they observed DNA repaired themselves after CT scans.

 

The problem with sensationalistic articles about medical imaging procedures and cancer risks is that it discourages some parents and patients to undergo a much needed CT scan testing, preventing their doctors from diagnosing an internal injury or disease and treating them soon. 

 

While it’s important to only perform medical procedures that are necessary, stoking fear of radiation is not the right way to reduce the number of unnecessary procedures. 

 

It’s important to evaluate objectively the statistical risk of developing cancer caused by radiation versus skipping a medically required CT scan. For instance, one study suggested that for every 1,000 children who do not undergo medically necessary imaging radiation, around 200-250 will die because of lack of proper diagnosis and treatment. 

 

By contrast, the perceived increased risk of cancer over a patient’s lifetime from a single CT scan is almost imperceptible, just a mere 0.03 – 0.05%. In short, a medically necessary CT scan does not represent a direct risk to a patient. 

 

Ways to further reduce the radiation exposure 

For hospitals and other medical facilities, the first step to reduce the radiation exposure is to partner with a mobile CT scan rental provider like Catalina Imaging that offers the latest medical imaging technology. 

 

These are the other things that can further minimize radiation risk to patients: 

  • Only use imaging medical imaging techniques when there is a clear medical benefit. 
  • Image only the indicated area.
  • Use the lowest amount of radiation; for this reason, children should receive a lower dose than adults because of their smaller body frame. 
  • Avoid multiple scans. 

 

Final Words on CT Scan and Radiation Exposure

With newer CT scanners that use a lower dose of radiation, a medically necessary imaging procedure does pose a very minimal or even a non-existent cancer risk.

 

In the US, over 80 million CT scans are performed every year, making them one of the most popular medical imaging procedures in the country. 

 

If you want to learn more about low-dose CT scan or you need a reliable CT scan rental provider that can meet your facility’s long-term and temporary needs, Catalina Imaging offers a fleet that’s located in California, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Illinois. 

Posted on

7 Effective Marketing Tips for Your Hospital or Medical Facility

7 Effective Marketing Tips for Your Hospital or Medical Facility

Whether you’re satisfied with your current patient volume or trying to increase it, you need to keep up with today’s healthcare consumerism that demands hospitals and medical facilities to connect with people through patient-centric marketing. 

 

Furthermore, today’s patients expect healthcare providers to be as innovative and digitally advanced as any other industry. As a result, a growing number of hospitals and medical facilities feel the need to find a reliable mobile CT scanner provider such as Catalina Imaging. 

 

Mobile CT Rental: GE | Canon/Toshiba | Siemens

 

Read on below to learn more about marketing tips for hospitals and medical facilities. (source: Catalina Imaging)

 

Use social media 

This platform allows you to brand your medical facility as an innovative and patient-centric organization that adapts to the current technology and consumer trend. For example, you can post photos and videos showing the state-of-the-art mobile CT scanners you’re using in your facility. 

 

Other social media best practices you need to keep in mind:

  • Promote user engagement (e.g., respond to comments and inquiries).
  • Use professional-looking photos and videos.
  • Use descriptive but short captions for your content.
  • Repost blogs and other relevant content from your website.

 

Improve your search engine optimization

SEO is the process of improving the quality and quantity of traffic to your website. And when you take full advantage of this practice, your facility will rank higher on the search engine results page every time people type their queries in the search bar. 

There are numerous techniques that can help you improve your SEO, however, these are the most important ones: 

  • Ensure that your web page has a decent loading speed.
  • Optimize your links. 
  • Use website design that leans more toward minimalism for easy navigation and quick loading. 
  • Produce high-quality content, including regular blog posts. 
  • Use keywords and key phrases.
  • Optimize your URLs.
  • Allow people to share your web content on other channels like social media. 
  • Optimize your website for mobile users. 
  • Set up your medical facility on Google Business. 

 

You may want to hire an SEO consultant or a team of digital marketing professionals (e.g., web developers and content creators) rather than have a full-time employee to manage your online presence. 

 

Provide patient-centered service 

Nothing beats word-of-mouth marketing in which satisfied clients talk positively about your facility after receiving excellent medical care and attention. 

From state-of-the-art equipment like a mobile CT scanner and timely access to required services to reduced redundancy and excellent communications with patients, there are many ways you can brand your hospital as a patient-centric facility. 

 

Be consistent in your healthcare branding 

You need to set yourself apart from other healthcare providers–this is where branding comes into play. 

Contrary to popular belief, a brand is not just about logos and other recognizable markers; more importantly, it is an intangible marketing concept that helps people identify an organization. Simply put, it’s anything that makes your hospital or medical facility stand out. 

 

Does your facility have a spa-like environment, or is it more like a family-friendly place? Are you mostly known for your excellent patient care, your state-of-the-art facility, or both? Make sure to highlight these “features” as part of your branding strategy. 

 

Define your target audience

It’s not just about targeting people from a certain geographic area but also patients with specific needs and expectations. Again, knowing your brand (or creating one) can help you define your target audience and create a marketing strategy (and message) that speaks their language and reflects their values and needs. 

 

Keep your current clients happy

Do you know it’s more cost-effective to keep your existing clients happy than chase new ones? For this reason, why not send birthday cards and text reminders for follow-up appointments, and make small but personalized gestures that show you value your relationship with them?

 

Establish your facility as an authority in your specific field 

First and foremost, establishing your facility as an authority in your specific field of medicine requires that you know your brand. Another way to do this is to invest in equipment or partner with a reliable medical equipment provider such as Catalina Imaging. 

 

Mobile CT Rental: GE | Canon/Toshiba | Siemens

 

If you need a provider of state-of-the-art mobile CT scanners that offers 24/7 customer support, affordability, and reliable trailer service and maintenance, contact Catalina Imaging at (844) 949-1664 or info@catalinaimaging.com. 

Posted on

Top 5 New 2022 Healthcare Trends

Top 5 New Healthcare Trends

As the healthcare sector continues to manage through the pandemic and expects its lingering disruptive effects in the coming years, it needs to depend on collaboration, digitization and innovation to stay ahead of the competition. 

 

Catalina Imaging, a leading mobile CT scanner provider with service and storage locations in different parts of the US, shares these top 5 healthcare trends that are expected to continue in the coming years. 

 

Telemedicine 

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the healthcare sector to adopt telemedicine not just to limit the spread of the virus but also to decongest hospitals, clinics and other similar facilities and prevent overwhelming the providers and the clinical supplies. 

Additionally, telemedicine benefits elderly patients and people in remote areas where quality healthcare is not readily accessible. 

 

Collaboration 

Financial pressures continue to be a prevalent issue as healthcare providers are finding ways to manage their operational costs and capital expenditures like the purchase of new equipment. As a result, a growing number of small- and medium-sized hospitals and clinics are partnering with mobile CT scanner providers like Catalina Imaging. 

Mobile CT scanners are “fixed” inside a trailer, which can be moved from different locations and operate in varying weather conditions thanks to its built-in heating and air conditioning system.

 

Revenue diversification 

US hospitals had around $320 billion in losses due to the impact of the COVID-19, according to a 2020 AHA report. This has prompted stakeholders to realize the importance of revenue diversification to limit the risks of unpredictable patient volumes, pandemics, and other disruptive events. 

One common way hospitals can diversify their revenue stream is through collaboration with pharma and tech companies which need data to create a profitable product that improves productivity and enhances patient care. 

Collaboration between hospitals and pharma/tech companies not only means additional funding but also the invention of systems that can improve patient experience and care. 

 

Smart automation and artificial intelligence 

The use of smart automation and AI eliminates or at least reduces time-consuming workloads, shifting them to a virtual workforce built specifically to manage high-volume tasks. With this added support, medical providers will have more time to focus on direct patient care and other things that require higher priorities. 

 

Workforce diversity 

With the country’s aging population, healthcare providers are finding ways to replace the retiring baby boomers. But to do this, they need to strengthen their inclusion and diversity programs.

 

Studies show that diverse teams and inclusive cultures generate better results, such as higher employee retention, better problem-solving methods, and greater engagement among members. 

 

2022 Healthcare Trends 

The healthcare trends explained above have only “scratched the surface” as stakeholders have identified other notable changes and innovative technologies that are taking stem cell therapy, robotics, genetic testing, and 3D bioprinting to the next level. 

 

Meanwhile, CT scan technology has also seen some dramatic improvements in recent years. For example, Catalina Imaging’s new mobile CT scanners deliver the same quality of image at a significantly reduced radiation dose.

 

To learn more about mobile CT scanners or if you need to partner with a reliable provider of this medical imaging technique, contact Catalina Imaging at (844) 949-1664 or info@catalinaimaging.com.

 

At Catalina Imaging, we have service and storage locations in California, Illinois, North Carolina and Minnesota and offer 24/7 emergency service to our clients.

 

Posted on

Easy Guide to CT Scanners

siemens mobile CT unit

Computerized tomography scanners or CT scanners have many uses, but they are particularly well-suited for patients with internal injuries or other types of trauma that require a quick examination. However, they also prove useful in diagnosing diseases, detecting “hidden” injuries, and planning a medical, radiation or surgical procedure. 

 

A CT scan combines a series of X-ray images derived from different angles of the body to create multiple cross-section images of the blood vessels, bones and soft tissues. As a result, it provides a more detailed and accurate depiction of the body compared to ordinary X-rays. 

 

Choosing a CT scan brand based on slice count

After about a decade of use, most hospitals and other medical facilities seek to replace their CT scanners, usually with a model that offers more “slice count,” which is closely related to the image quality.  

 

However, models with a higher slice count do not necessarily mean a better option since costs [versus benefits] are considered when making a switch. For example, veterinarian clinics and radiology departments that handle a very limited number of non-emergency patients will have no problem with 4- and 8-slice CT scanners. 

 

By contrast, top-notch scanners (i.e., those with 128-380 slices) are generally reserved for facilities that perform whole-body scans in seconds. Thanks to their incredibly high slice counts, they provide sharp three-dimensional images of any organ, including the heart and vascular system that low slice count CT scanners may find difficult to scan. 

 

Despite the incredibly sharp images of 128-380 CT scanners, they are generally considered excessive in a standard clinical setting, which fairs better with just a 64-slice CT scan that provides accurate images quickly without being too expensive. 

 

As of this writing, the 64-slice CT scanners are the standard models for hospitals and imaging centers with moderate to high patient numbers. Not only can they reduce scan times, but they are also enough for more advanced studies, such as cardiac, although they still require a bit of slowing of the heart rate to get sharp images. 

 

The cost of CT scanners 

Catalina Imaging, one of the leading mobile CT rental companies in the US, explains the factors influencing the price of a CT scanner.

  • Workstation
  • Warranty
  • Installation
  • Injector 
  • Age
  • CT X-ray tube and its tube content
  • Brand 

 

To accommodate the varying needs of hospitals and clinics, Catalina Imaging offers three CT scan brands, namely, GE Mobile CT, Toshiba Mobile CT, and Siemens Mobile CT. These tech companies are known for their innovative products that have revolutionized the way medical imaging procedures are performed. 

 

Best CT Scanners For Your Needs

In a nutshell, the best CT scanners are based on your clinical setting and your patients’ needs. Today’s models can all perform general imaging procedures, such as scanning the internal abdominal organs like the kidneys and liver. 

 

Nevertheless, the cardiac relies on higher slice counts to come up with sufficient image quality. 

 

To learn more about the “ideal” CT scan models and brands for your hospital or clinic, or if you need a reliable provider of mobile CT scanners for your clinical setting, contact Catalina Imaging at info@catalinaimaging.com or (844) 949-1664.

Posted on

Lung Damage May Persist Long After COVID-19 Pneumonia

COVID-19 lungs

Lung Damage from Covid-19

 

Pneumonia and COVID-19 can mean long term lung damage.

Pneumonia infects the air sacs of the lungs. These sacs are crucial to our survival, because the air we breathe in is filtered and prepared for use in the bloodstream. When these air sacs become ineffective due to damage, old age, or infection, they cannot release enough oxygen into the bloodstream to keep a person alert and also affect the organs of the body, causing them to shut down one by one. Pneumonia is an infection that preys on the air sac in the lung, causing them to swell up and fill with mucus. In severe cases the air sacs become spongy and porous and can no longer perform their job of transferring vital oxygen into the bloodstream. If this continues for too long the victim lapses into a coma as the brain literally asphyxiates, and then eventually dies.

This is what is happening to some patients who contracted COVID-19 and then came down with pneumonia. Doctors were at first confident that regular medical treatment and prescription drugs for pneumonia would be effective against the pandemic variety. But as the months and now years have gone by, patients who survived COVID-19 and pneumonia and got better are now sometimes relapsing into bronchial distress and even collapsed lungs. This is a grim reminder that the long term effects of the pandemic are still not clearly understood. And effective treatment for long term health problems due to COVID-19 are still not in place.

A big part of the problem is that the immune system reacts differently to pneumonia caused by COVID-19 than to any other type of pneumonia infection. Those patients with COVID-19 related pneumonia retained more fluid in their lungs over a longer period of time, because the immune system apparently kept flushing out toxins long after the need to do so was gone. Hence there is more fluid, fluid that is not reabsorbed back into the body, in Covid-19 pneumonia patients than in regular pneumonia patients. This fluid is a rabid breeding ground for germs and viruses that can suddenly flare up in the lungs at any time for years down the road. This is grim news for patients who thought they had survived the ravages of COVID-19 induced pneumonia.

Another challenge doctors face in the long term treatment of COVID-19 induced pneumonia is that the COVID-19 virus itself attacks the immune system in the lungs, and is not completely eradicated by most standard treatments. This weakens the immune system, sometimes permanently, so that infections can reappear that would otherwise be destroyed by a healthy immune system.

Tests with stronger anti-inflammatory drugs have encouraged medical researchers to believe that the long term damage done by COVID-19 pneumonia can be minimized and even lessened, as long as the patient continues an extended regimen of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medication, and watchful breathing – avoiding smog and smoke as much as possible. Smoking, needless to say, is contraindicated in all cases.

If you’ve had breathing difficulties associated with the COVID-19 virus that have NOT developed into pneumonia you’re not out of the woods yet. You stand a very real chance of lung damage from things like bronchitis or even the flu. So be careful.