Services: Outpatient Care

Radiology

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A Look Inside for Better Health

Knowing what’s happening inside the human body is an important part of modern medicine. At DHCHD, we offer a variety of imaging services to help with diagnosis and treatment. Our advanced imaging services include:

  • CT scans
  • X-ray
  • Ultrasound
  • Bone density scan
  • Nuclear medicine & stress testing
  • 3 -D Mammograms 

All of these services are available on an outpatient basis. CT and X-ray appointments are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

Radiology services are located right inside of the ER/Admissions door at the corner of East 16th Street and Denver Ave. To contact the radiology department, please call 806.244.4571.

Nuclear Medicine

What is nuclear medicine?

Nuclear Medicine is a safe, painless, and cost effective tool used to help physicians diagnose and treat diseased or abnormal organs.

What happens during a nuclear medicine scan?

Radiopharmaceuticals are introduced into the body by injection, ingestion, or inhalation and are taken up by the target organ. The gamma camera detects the radiation emitted by the radiopharmaceutical in the body and turns it into a picture on a computer screen. Information such as organ function and structure can be assessed from this picture.

What happens after a nuclear medicine scan?

The small amount of radioactivity left in the body after a nuclear medicine procedure will decay or lose its radioactivity over time naturally. Most radiopharmaceuticals leave the body through the urine within 2-3 days. In almost all cases, after a nuclear medicine scan, a patient can return to their normal daily routine.

How is nuclear medicine different from x-ray, CT, ultrasound, and MRI?

During a nuclear medicine scan, the radiation coming a patient’s body is detected and turned into a picture for the radiologist to read. All of these other procedures use machines that send radiation through the body to see certain organs and tissue. Nuclear medicine can also detect disease based on organ function.

Nuclear Medicine Procedures:

  • Thyroid Imagine Study
  • Thyroid Uptake Measurement
  • Parathyroid Study
  • Liver/Spleen Study
  • Hepatobiliary Study
  • Gastric Emptying Study
  • Gastrointestinal Bleeding Study
  • Bone Imaging
  • Bone Spect
  • Three Phase Bone Scan
  • Myocardial Perfusion Study
  • Gated Blood Pool Study-Rest
  • Lung Perfusion Study
  • Renal Study

Stress Testing

A stress test, also called an exercise stress test, shows how your heart works during physical activity. Because exercise makes your heart pump harder and faster, an exercise stress test can reveal problems with blood flow within your heart.

A stress test can help:

  • Guide treatment decisions
  • Determine how well heart treatment is working
  • Diagnose the severity of an existing heart condition

Why it’s done:

  • Diagnose coronary artery disease
  • Diagnose heart rhythm problems
  • Guide treatment of heart disorders
  • Check your heart before surgery

 

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