Hospital using digital X-ray technology

By Michael Picarella pic@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers PERFECT VIEW-Los Robles Hospital administrator Don Adler, a Thousand Oaks resident, reviews a digital X-ray of a hand. The new technology, which captures an image digitally rather than on film, is the first of its kind in Ventura County.

Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center will no longer do X-rays of diagnostic images on film, but will replace that process with a new digital X-ray technology. X-ray images can now be put on computer and/or printed as a hard copy. Doctors and patients no longer have to wait for X-rays to be developed. The digital X-ray process is instantaneous.

According to Kim Spencer, Los Robles administrative director of radiology, the hospital has been trying to get the new X-ray technology for three years.

"We just got the equipment installed and it’s just now up and running," said Kris Carraway-Bowman, Los Robles Hospital vice president of marketing and business development. "This is huge news."

The digital X-ray technology, called PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System), completely replaces the X-ray films. The film process probably won’t be missed, she said.

When a doctor takes X-rays on film, that film is usually piled onto a stack of other X-rays to be developed, Carraway-Bowman said. The developed film is then read by a radiologist, who usually gets one print.

"If it’s (an emergency), the film would be asked to be what’s called a ‘wet read,’" she said. "That means it’s (brought to the radiologist) immediately after it’s developed. The film is still wet from the darkroom."

The ‘wet read’ process, which was the quickest way to see X-ray results, could still take a couple of hours, Carraway-Bowman said.

"Now, with the digital process, we get rid of the darkroom because we’re not talking about film," she said. "We’re talking about a computer. You’re seeing the X-rays on the screen."

The possibility of lost X-rays is eliminated. Copies of the digital X-rays can be burned onto a CD immediately for the doctor or the patient.

Many hospitals haven’t yet adopted the new PACS technology because of the expense, Carraway-Bowman said. Los Robles spent $2.6 million to install it. But the digital process is the wave of the very near future, according to Carraway-Bowman. Hospitals will have to, and will, adopt the process to keep up with other facilities, she said.

For more information about the process, contact Carraway-Bowman at (805) 370-4464.