3 Smart Ways to Look Inside You
The wonder of 64-images-in-one
“In one breath, a computed tomography or CT scanner moves over the body and captures 64 x-ray images from your neck to your pelvis,” says Virtua chair of radiology, William Muhr, MD. “Advanced CT reassembles these 64 ‘slices’ into one 3-D view of every organ, vessel and structure in your chest, abdomen and pelvis, providing a comprehensive picture for diagnosis.”
CT locations: Berlin, Camden, Marlton, Memorial, Our Lady of Lourdes, Voorhees
Let us entertain you
The banging of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine can make the bravest patient quiver. But stillness is essential to capturing a clear image. Patients now stay calmer by watching a movie during the test. “For younger kids, it’s especially helpful,” says Virtua MRI technologist Dawn Bay, RT, R, MR. “I tell them the test will be over when the movie ends.”
MRI with movie location: Voorhees
The ultimate cancer tracker: PET and CT
What if you could track cancer when it was still a group of rogue cells and not even a tumor? Positron Emission Tomography (PET) can. “Cancer cells burn up sugar at a much higher rate than healthy cells,” explains Virtua radiation oncologist John Wilson, MD. On a PET scan, these fast-burning cancer cells light up like a flare. The physician can pinpoint the cancer’s exact location and its spread through the body. This leads to earlier diagnosis and, potentially, to better outcomes.
Using PET together with the latest CT technology gives the clinical team a detailed picture about the cancer’s metabolism and exactly where it is in the body – a map of destruction of cancer.
PET and CT location: Voorhees
Low-dose imaging, highest quality image
Virtua radiologist Sungtae Lim, MD, explains: “Repeated radiation exposure, even in very small amounts, can cause cumulative damage to cells over time. Modern low-dose imaging techniques reduces the radiation dose for tests like x-ray and CT, without compromising image quality.” Low-dose imaging is offered at all locations.
Little people need big tests
When infants and children need imaging tests, Virtua offers advanced technology with the lowest radiation dose possible. Virtua Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging in partnership with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has a clinical team that includes CHOP physicians and CHOP sedation nurses. A Virtua child-life specialist can ease children’s anxiety and help complete imaging studies without sedation, when appropriate.
Pediatric imaging locations: Memorial and Voorhees
Updated February 28, 2022
