Health Care Meets ‘The Jetsons’

Innovations like X-rays on computer are creating the ‘digital hospital’

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A “filmless” system means an emergency specialist like Richard MacKenzie, M.D. (upper photo), can view the results of a CT scan immediately and confer with colleagues like diagnostic radiologist Robert Kricun, M.D., about the best treatment for the patient.

• X-rays on computer—That trip from the hospital to your family doctor’s office with X-ray film in tow is no longer necessary. Some hospitals—including Lehigh Valley Hospital—now put all X-rays, MRIs and CT scans on computer rather than film. Physicians and health care workers in different locations can see the same image at the same time and confer by phone. Physicians can access images at the hospital, their office and in the future, even their home. “In the emergency department, we can see a CT scan and talk to a radiol-ogist immediately to determine the best treatment for conditions like stroke,” says emergency specialist Richard MacKenzie, M.D., of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network.
• DVDs of heart tests — You’ve probably ditched your VCR tapes for DVD disks that offer greater clarity in less storage space. Lehigh Valley Hospital is doing the same thing, switching tests like echocardiograms (that measure the heart’s muscle function) to DVD. The advantages: greater image clarity and the ability to compare DVDs that show specific problems such as valve malfunctions. Technologists can get additional heart-health data, like the diameter of a patient’s arteries. Digital images of catheterizations also can be copied to DVDs to send to heart surgeons, referring physicians and other hospitals.
• Freedom for home-bound patients—People who need ongoing care at home for conditions like congestive heart failure have a new friend: a clock radio-sized device that records their weight, blood pressure, pulse and oxygen level daily. This computerized “telemonitor” transmits the data to a central office for a nurse to review. If a level is dangerously low or high, a house call is arranged. The benefits: Patients take an active role in their health and gain more freedom and privacy.
• A “spell-checker” for mammograms—Early detection is the best strategy against breast cancer, and a device called ImageChecker is helping radiologists find cancer sooner. The computer program compares your mammogram against a national database of 35,000 cancers, marking every possible abnormality to ensure nothing goes unnoticed. Coming in the near future: fully computerized mammogram images.

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