Functional MRI is a complex, specialized examination that can noninvasively measure information critical to patient care, such as hemispheric language lateralization, according to presenter Dr. Wilson Chwang, PhD.
"Diagnostic fMRI requires extensive patient interaction as well as the coordinated efforts of the entire healthcare team," Chwang said. "We observed that in our practice, fMRI exams were excessively lengthy, making scheduling of the exam difficult."
As a result, the researchers set out to reduce fMRI scan times by increasing the efficiency of their workflow. After implementing specific interventions such as eliminating intravenous contrast, reducing repeated language paradigms, updating technologist checklists for patient monitoring, updating visual slides and audio, developing a patient training video, and developing multilingual paradigms, the team found that mean fMRI scan time dropped from 76.3 minutes to 53.2 minutes.
That's a 30% reduction, Chwang said.
"At the same time, the majority of our fMRI exams remained of diagnostic quality," Chwang told AuntMinnie.com. "We believe that these interventions can be sustainable over time, and that the process of workflow optimization can be applied broadly to any functional MRI practice."
