Ultrasound Technology Improves Imaging Consistency Across Departments

New ultrasound technology provides consistently high-quality diagnostic images and enables the hospital to diagnose patients faster, which results in more effective treatment for patients and enhanced operational efficiencies for the staff.

Hospitals are under pressure to enhance patient care and streamline workflow while containing costs. To achieve this goal, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial (Orange City, USA) acquired four Xario XG ultrasound systems from Toshiba Medical Systems, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) to create imaging consistency across various departments.

Florida Hospital Fish Memorial uses two Xario XG ultrasound systems in its main hospital and two in its outpatient-imaging center. Xario's portability and sophisticated imaging capabilities make it easy to move and use within various departments throughout the 140-bed hospital. The four Xario systems are used for a range of diagnostic imaging needs, including imaging patients at bedside, helping with ultrasound-guided biopsies and fluid draining, breast imaging, four-dimensional (4D) imaging for ob/gyn exams and general radiology.

"The Xario ultrasound system offers the advanced capabilities of a high-end machine in a smaller, more portable system offering better value and usability for a large hospital like ours,” explained Dr. Paul Goldberg, medical director, department of radiology, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial. "The Xario's Precision Imaging technology provides greater definition of structures and reduces noise, making it a tool we use in almost every case, especially with bariatric patients. In addition, Xario's 4D imaging is extremely helpful for our ob/gyb department as most patients ask for 4D ultrasound capabilities these days.”

Precision Imaging, a multiresolution signal-processing technology, is playing an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of Florida Hospital Fish Memorial patients, especially bariatric patients. Precision Imaging technology increases productivity and diagnostic confidence by providing more detailed ultrasound images. It not only assesses images line-by-line, but also includes data from adjacent lines to enhance the amount of information obtained. Traditional ultrasound systems acquire images line-by-line only and do not consider information from adjacent lines. A Toshiba-exclusive software, Precision Imaging's ability to capture information from multiple lines improves the definition of the structure, provides more detail, and minimizes noise and clutter, enabling clinicians to determine if the signal is part of a structure or an anomaly from one line.

Precision Imaging is also beneficial for head-to-toe scanning. It improves the ability to reveal subtle tissue differences and image small structures better than conventional imaging. It clearly shows contrast boundaries between tissue and lesions, visualizes vessel walls, and enhances true color borders in difficult-to-image areas. It is useful for imaging breast, small parts, the abdomen, and vascular.

Related Links:
Toshiba Medical Systems
Florida Hospital Fish Memorial