Story Posted: 2024-07-16
Hospital Highlights 2023-24: Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine
From the St. Paul’s Hospital & SPH Foundation 2023-24 Annual Review.
Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine plays an integral role both in diagnosing and in treating the spread of disease. Highly specialized staff use innovative equipment to help identify, analyze, diagnose and treat a wide range of medical conditions. Diagnostic Imaging staff support patients and their loved ones, as well as the healthcare team as a whole, often working collaboratively with other teams at the Hospital. We fully embrace patient and family-centered care as a fundamental value of the Department, serving the needs of patients while also involving family and other supporters whenever appropriate.
Further, Diagnostic Imaging staff have been building capacity to support our co-workers by attending the Mental Health First Aid course offered by the Mental Health Commission of Canada. This course provides attendees with tools to recognize and respond to mental health crises that could be exhibited by patients and fellow staff members in the workplace, and equips healthcare workers to address the well-being of their peers and themselves in addition to the well-being of patients.
New Ultrasound Technology Makes Prostate Biopsy Safer
This year, under the leadership of Radiologist Dr. Jeff Bird and Urologist Dr. Kunal Jana, we were happy to introduce the new Aplio Ultrasound Machine to the Unit. This acquisition was made possible through the phenomenal generosity of Associated Radiologists LLP and Daphne Arnason & Leo Bourassa. For patients requiring prostate biopsies, the machine performs trans-perineal procedures that are extremely safe, highly efficient and minimally invasive. When a patient arrives for their biopsy, they have often already had an MRI completed that may have identified lesions that cannot be seen on a traditional ultrasound. The Fusion technology within the Aplio Ultrasound Machine allows radiologists to import MRI information and fuse it with what they see through the ultrasound in real time, increasing diagnostic accuracy and further improving patient outcomes.
Donors Upgrade Efficiency
Diagnostic imaging is a constantly advancing field, and updating equipment as that technology progresses ensures that patients will be given the most accurate diagnoses and best possible treatment options during their hospital visit.
With funding made possible by donors’ generosity, the Department was excited to finalize state-of-the-art upgrades to our MRI Scanner, reducing exam duration and significantly increasing the quality of the scans, positively impacting our patients.
With St. Paul’s Hospital having the only Lithotripsy program in the province, it is vital that we keep pace with new technology and development. We are excited about the installation of a new lithotriptor, which allows us to continue to offer a less invasive method of treating kidney, bladder, and ureteric stones to the patients of Saskatchewan. We are deeply grateful to donors Leslie and Irene Dubé, whose leadership and philanthropy brought the first lithotripter to the province in 1997, then upgraded that technology at our Hospital in the Spring of 2024.