MEDICAL IMAGING EXAMINATIONS THANKS TO X-RAY TECHNOLOGY

The specialized health center of the Clinica San Francesco includes a modern Radiology Unit able to provide complete diagnostic services.

The radiology is the medicine branch which attends to provide images, useful to define the diagnosis by X-rays. The duration of test changes based on the number of body parts to examine; furthermore depending on the diagnostic examination to carry out, the position to keep can be standing, in front of the device, or laid down on couch. The patient will be also asked to keep still and hold his/her breath for a few seconds.

Although the conventional radiography of interested compartment is neither painful nor invasive, during the test the radiographer will always be able to see and listen the patient.

Since it is an outpatient service using X-ray, it is important to inform if there is a verified or alleged pregnancy. The delivery of medical report occurs within three working days.

The provided services

• Chest X-rays
• Standard column or in orthostatism X-rays (also in dynamic and oblique projections)
• Rib, breast bone and clavicle X-rays
• Shoulder, arm and elbow X-rays
• Pulse and hand X-rays
• Pelvis and sacroiliac articulations X-rays
• Hip, femur and knee X-rays
• Leg, ankle and foot X-rays
• Complete limb and under load pelvis X-rays
• Patella axial X-rays

Conventional Radiology is a diagnostic imaging method that uses X-rays for diagnostic purposes useful for the study:

• of the bone region: skeletal and dental;
• of the thoracic area: lung and heart volume;
• the gastrointestinal tract: esophagus, stomach and colon (possibly after proper preparation and use of the Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance)
• abdominal and urinary tract: no contrast enhanced for example for calcified calcium detection.

It is a safe and reliable method that, with the modern digital equipment provided at the service, exhibits a reduced dose of radiation, however it should always be used with prescription.

Radiology is the branch of medicine that uses images (real, reconstructed, or virtual) of the inside of the human body to diagnose and treat diseases. For this reason, it is also called Diagnostic Imaging.

Among the most common tests is the study of the skeletal system, which, thanks to its density, appears very clear in the image.

Its use in orthopedics is common for diagnosis of bone fractures, dislocations, arthritis, post-operative checks and pathologies affecting the spine such as: spondylolisthesis, spondylarthritis, scoliosis.

Chest radiography is widely used to examine the lung fields (for example: for the search for tumors, looking for pneumonia, pneumothorax, pleural effusions) and of mediastinal structures such as the heart and the aortic arch.

The abdominal organs are also studied with x-ray.

To obtain radiological images of a specific anatomical part, the medical radiology healthcare technician will position the patient on a special radiological table or on a screen. X-rays are invisible ionizing radiation that gives no sensation when passing through the body. As the X-ray beam passes, it is absorbed by how dense or hollow different parts of the body are and comes out as an image that can be read by the machine.

Nowadays with digital radiography, film has been replaced by digital sensors which can convert the data to images that can be viewed on the computer. In more modern systems, an array of scintillators and CCDs are able to produce images directly.

Once the technician has done all the x-ray views prescribed, the images will be sent via the PACS system to the radiologist who will read the images and provide the report.