Bone suppression is a bonus at Solihull
Solihull Hospital, part of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, has received a DigitalDiagnost C90 from Philips UKI. The system replaced an existing Philips x-ray unit and training was made simpler by the department’s familiarity with Philips equipment. Solihull is one of the first hospitals in the UK to receive the new DigitalDiagnost C90.
Plain film modality lead advanced practitioner Rachael Hinchliffe said: “The equipment complements the other x-ray room in the ED and outpatient imaging and was selected by us for its intuitive workflow. We are using it to help manage the general radiography workload. It allows leg length measurements and spine scoliosis measurements to be taken on site and calculated more accurately.”
Patient waiting times can be shortened by decreasing time to diagnosis with tools that help drive workflow efficiency. Fast workflow and easier collimation is achieved through an integrated touch screen and live camera in the Eleva tube head for extended control in the examination room.
Consultant radiographer Louise Small added: “One of the reasons for choosing this system was because it offers bone suppression software when interpreting chest x-ray examinations, which detects and gives clarification of potential pulmonary nodules. Training was cascaded in a ‘train the trainer’ format with Philips personnel on site initially to facilitate the training and deal with any teething problems.”
The equipment comes with Unique 2, which improves image quality with more homogeneous black backgrounds, reduces noise and provides automatic enhancement of small details. In addition, bone suppression helps remove bone structures from chest images for an unobstructed view of soft tissue, which can improve actionable nodule detection without the need to expose the patient to additional x-ray dose.
Picture: Philips UKI account manager Pete Bains and district general manager Michelle Atherton, consultant radiologist Dr Madava Djearaman, radiographer Emily Seabourne, group manager and lead radiographer Thomas Lowbridge, plain film modality lead advanced practitioner Rachael Hinchliffe, interim deputy head of imaging Rachel Cottrell, consultant radiographer Louise Small, head of imaging Priti Khurana, senior radiographer advanced practitioner Michelle Mannion, Philips UKI modality specialist Paddy Lightfoot and marketing manager Emma Kenny.
Published on page 28 of the August 2019 issue of RAD Magazine.