Dear AuntMinnie Member,
If you can’t move the patients to the scanner, move the scanner to the patients. It was an elegant solution for radiologists at a Singapore hospital, who faced the dilemma of finding a way to image SARS patients without causing further spread of the highly infectious virus.
Dear AuntMinnie Member,
If you can’t move the patients to the scanner, move the scanner to the patients. It was an elegant solution for radiologists at a Singapore hospital, who faced the dilemma of finding a way to image SARS patients without causing further spread of the highly infectious virus.
At Tan Tock Seng Hospital, a mobile CT scanner that could be moved from room to room kept SARS patients in isolation without denying them access to radiology services. We’re featuring the article, by staff writer Erik L. Ridley, in our CT Digital Community this week.
At the height of last year’s outbreak, SARS patients at the hospital were sent to a special isolation ward, and the radiology department was closed to SARS cases. But CT can be an excellent tool for detecting the lung abnormalities that can confirm SARS infection and for assessing damage to the lung parenchyma.
Tan Tock Seng Hospital had a portable CT on wheels in its neuroradiology section. Life support systems were assigned to the scanner, while disinfection and nursing barrier protocols were adopted to prevent virus transmission. In addition, the hospital’s PACS network enabled distribution of images without spreading the virus throughout the hospital.
Find out how the unit performed, and what referring physicians thought of the service, by going to our CT Digital Community, at http://ct.auntminnie.com.
