Radiology

🔊 A medical sub-specialty of radiology utilizing minimally-invasive image-guided procedures to diagnose and treat diseases in nearly every organ system. These procedures are guided by CT, Fluoroscopy and or ultrasound depending on the type of examination being performed.

• Biopsies: these include liver, kidneys, thyroid, breasts and many other body parts
• Drainage and aspirations: Pleural (lung) and ascitic (abdomen) fluid and other bodily fluid accumulation
• Insertions: Sometimes it is necessary to insert a device in your body to aid you with your illness. Examples are stents to relieve blocked arteries, vein filters to block blood clots, dialysis catheters, chest ports and many more
• Ablations: These are minimally invasive procedures to ablate and rid body tissue through catheter guided by fluoroscopy CT or ultrasound. Cryoablation is another ablation technique where it freezes the damage tissue or tumor as an alternate to surgical intervention
• Embolization: is a minimally invasive surgical technique. The purpose is to prevent blood flow to an area of the body, which can effectively shrink a tumor or block an aneurysm. These include uterine fibroid, blood to damage tissue embolization
• Vascular: Highly specialized procedure dedicated to vessel diseases in upper and lower extremities to aid and restore blood flow in the arterial and or venous system
• Kyphoplasty: is a minimally invasive surgery used to treat a spinal compression fracture under fluoroscopic guidance
• Joint Injections: Corticosteroid and or local anesthetic medication are injected directly into the joint can sometimes be helpful in reducing the inflammation and providing pain relief guided by using fluoroscopy, ultrasound or CT

🔊 Computed Tomography is an X-ray machine using a form of rotating x-rays (tomography) in which a computer controls the motion of the X-ray source and detectors, processes the data, and produces the image. Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District has two a high-speed, low dose CT (64-slice) machines. Our scope of services include:

• Whole body scanning
• Head and Brain Imaging
• CT Angiography with 3D reconstruction
• Peripheral Angiography in both upper and lower extremities.
• CT Urography
• CT Cardiac and Calcium Scoring
• CT Myelogram (Evaluating spinal canal after contrast injection)

🔊 MRI is a medical examination using magnetic resonance to image your body. Our hospital has two MRI systems, one of which is the latest 3T (3 Tesla) with In-bore theater system to put patients at ease during their scan, supplemented with another 1.5 Tesla to accommodate less critical cases.

• MR Whole body: Brain, Spine, chest, abdomen, joints
• MRCP (Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography): is a technique for viewing the bile ducts and the pancreatic duct. It can also show the pancreas, gallbladder and liver
• MR 3D reconstruction: 3D reconstructed images of specific body parts
• MR Athrography: Use to evaluate a joint like the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee or ankle. It is a two-part procedure consisting of a contrast injection into the joint, followed by an MRI or CT scan of the joint
• MR Spectroscopy: is a noninvasive diagnostic test for measuring biochemical changes in the brain, especially the presence of tumors
• MR Vascular: Evaluation of vascular system, (both arterial and venous) using MRI such as MR peripheral angiography and carotids

🔊 Ultrasound is diagnostic medical imaging that uses high-frequency sound waves to produce dynamic visual images of organs, tissues or blood flow inside the body. 

• Abdominal: Imaging includes liver, kidneys, pancreas, spleen, aorta, inferior vena cava
• Pelvic (GYN): Uterus, ovaries, pelvic region
• Pelvic (Non-Gyn): Appendix, lower abdomen and pelvic region, urinary bladder evaluation
• Transvaginal Sonography: is a special form of ultrasound developed to examine the pelvic organs for gynecological or obstetrical evaluation
• Obstetrical: 1st, 2nd, 3rd trimester pregnancy ultrasound
• Small Parts: These include thyroid, testicles, breasts, body and extremities
• Vascular: Color and pulse wave evaluation of the arterial and or venous system
• Ankle Brachial Index: measurement of pressure/flow in the brachial and ankle region

🔊 A 3D mammogram is a specialized medical imaging that uses a low-dose X-ray system to evaluate tissue structure of the breasts. Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District was the first to adopt 3D Tomosynthesis technology in the Imperial Valley. It combines multiple breast X-rays to create a three-dimensional picture providing our physicians additional diagnostic information.

• Mammogram Screening: Yearly or bi-annual mammogram 
• Mammogram Diagnostic: This is follow up imaging for non-specific finding from the mammogram screening
• Mammogram Spot or Magnification: An additional mammographic view performed by applying the compression to a smaller area of tissue using a small compression paddle, increasing the effective pressure on that spot to move adjacent tissue away from the area of interest
• Stereotactic Biopsy: A specific type of breast imaging that uses low-dose x-rays — to help locate a breast abnormality and remove a tissue sample for examination under a microscope
• Ductogram: Also called galactography or ductogalactography is a special type of contrast enhanced mammography used for imaging the breast ducts

🔊 Imaging using small amounts of radioactive material to diagnose, evaluate or treat a variety of diseases. These include many types of cancers, heart disease, gastrointestinal, endocrine or neurological disorders and other abnormalities.

• Cardiac: To visualize heart blood flow and function
• Lungs: For respiratory and blood flow evaluation and assess differential lung function or lung transplant rejection
• Bones: Evaluation of bones for fractures, infection, arthritis and for metastatic bone diseases
• Brain: Investigate abnormalities in the brain of patients for tumor evaluation, blood flow, assist in surgical or radiation treatment planning 
• Gallbladder: For evaluating gallbladder function and other abnormalities.
• Bowel: Gastric emptying studies for bowel evaluation

🔊 Imaging  technology in which substances containing positron-emitting isotopes are introduced into the body, allowing the precise location of physiological processes by detection of the gamma rays produced by the isotopes. Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District has partnered with one of the nation’s leaders in PET mobile imaging with DMS Health® to provide PET Scan services to our oncology patients in the community.

• PET Brain Metabolic Evaluation: Imaging is primarily used for evaluation of patients with: epilepsy, for detection of epileptogenic foci; symptoms (e.g., memory loss) consistent with an early stage of a progressive dementia, for purposes of distinguishing Alzheimer’s disease from other diseases
• PET Myocardial Perfusion: (Stress and rest) Allows accurate measurement of myocardial perfusion, absolute myocardial blood flow and function at stress and rest
• PET Tumor Imaging (Whole Body or limited): an imaging test that helps reveal how your tissues and organs are functioning
• PET Fusion: PET/CT fusion imaging is a novel multimodality technology that allows the correlation of findings from two concurrent imaging modalities in one comprehensive examination

🔊 A test that uses low-dose x-rays to measure bone mineral density, including calcium content, in a section of bone. It is also used to detect osteoporosis and predict the risk of bone fracture.

• DEXA: Hip or Spine
• DEXA: Body Composition
• DEXA: Peripheral Bone Density