Radiology at Avita

Your doctor may need an inside look at your body to help diagnose a disease or injury. High-quality medical imaging can provide that internal view. They play a vital role in diagnostics and are also used to monitor disease progression and show how your body reacts to treatment. Imaging provides a clearer picture of your organs, bones, muscles, tissues, tendons, nerves, cartilage, and more. Some images are obtained using x-ray technology or radioactive substances, while others use sound waves or the body’s natural magnetism. Most tests are non-invasive and completely painless.

Avita’s radiology department captures medical images with advanced technologies including 3D mammography, nuclear medicine, ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT), 3-tesla magnetic resonance imaging (3T MRI), and mobile positron emission tomography (PET).

If radiology services are needed, your doctor will provide an order and our team will capture the images requested. They will then be interpreted by a radiologist – a medical doctor who specializes in diagnosing diseases and injuries with medical imaging. The radiologist will present his findings to your doctor to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of your condition. Additional images may be ordered to further examine a part of your body or to track your progress as you undergo treatment.

To schedule an appointment with radiology, please call 419-462-3310.

Services Offered

3T MRI

Magnetic Resonance Imaging uses magnetic fields and radio waves to see organs and structures inside the body. Unlike X-rays and CT scans, MRIs do not use radiation to make images. There are several reasons why your provider would recommend an MRI, such as looking at tumors, joints, and brain injuries. These scans are especially useful for looking at soft tissues, bones, and the nervous system.

Avita Health System has the MAGNETOM® Verio 3T MRI scanner from Siemens at our Bucyrus and Ontario Hospitals. A 3T MRI provides a magnetic field twice as strong as a regular MRI. Our radiologists have more options for scans and get higher-quality images as a result!

Mobile PET

A Positron Emission Tomography scan uses a special dye with radioactive tracers to look at the body at a cellular level. This helps your doctor to study and detect diseases and conditions that you may have. Not only will your doctor have an inside look at your body, they will be able to see if it is functioning as it should, leading to a faster and more accurate diagnosis.

PET scans can be combined with CT scans to offer more accurate diagnosis and identify cancer, heart disease, and brain disorders.

CT Scans

CT stands for Computed Tomography and is often referred to as a CAT scan. This type of scan uses x-ray beams to help in soft tissue, air cavity, skeletal, and neurological imaging. The CT scan will create a 3D image in just seconds, showing even overlapping parts of the body.

Avita Health System features 80-slice CT scans. This helps avoid more invasive procedures and can scan any region of the body for injuries in just seconds.  This allows providers to quickly identify injuries and abnormalities to make confident diagnosis.

Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear medicine imaging is a part of molecular imaging. It uses small radioactive materials called radiotracers to create an image of the inside of your body. These radiotracers can be injected into the bloodstream, inhaled, or even swallowed. They will emit gamma rays which are detected by a special camera, providing detailed information on the molecular level that can help identify diseases and disorders at their earliest stages.

Ultrasonography

Also known as an ultrasound, this procedure gets an inside look at the body using high-frequency sound waves. These sound waves echo off the body to form a picture of the structures inside. It is a safe, non-invasive option.

Ultrasounds are often used to monitor a developing baby’s health but can also help detect breast lumps, check your thyroid, and evaluate blood flow!

X-ray

An x-ray is a radiograph that uses a very small dose of electromagnetic radiation. Certain tissues will block various amounts of the radiation as it passes through the body towards an x-ray detector. The more radiation that is blocked from the detector, the whiter the structure will appear in the picture. Since x-rays can’t travel through bones very easily, they appear white. X-rays pass through organs easily so they will be gray.

Mammography

A mammogram is a low-dose X-ray that focuses on finding changes in breast tissue. The procedure will take two x-rays, one from the top of the breast and the other from the side. Our mammograms are all done digitally and in 3D which offer detailed images, effective breast cancer screenings, and a decreased need for repeat mammograms.

3D Mammography

3D mammography is an advanced imaging test that captures multiple images from different angles. These digital images are then reconstructed or “synthesized” into a set of three-dimensional images by a computer. This gives a clear picture of the breast, even those with dense tissue. A 3D image makes it easier for doctors to catch breast cancer early. It also reduces the chance of a false positive reading and being called back for an additional screening. We offer 3D mammography at Bucyrus, Galion, and Ontario Hospitals.

The 3D exam provides better, earlier breast cancer detection, compared to 2D alone. Greater accuracy means greater breast cancer detection, and a reduced chance of additional imaging. This benefit, alone, spares patients the emotional, pragmatic, and economic burdens of additional diagnostic evaluations, including biopsies. The speed of acquiring the image is beneficial as well. The minimized exam means less discomfort and reduces the chances for motion artifact. This increased comfort can help reduce unpleasantness during the exam.

Avita’s 3D mammography technology gives patients a more accurate exam. Radiologists are able to more accurately screen, triage to biopsy, or dismiss a potential false positive for women of different ages and breast densities. With this new technology, fine details are more visible and not hidden by the tissue above or below. Early detection is important. When breast cancer is found early, the five-year survival rate is greatly improved.

To schedule your mammogram, call 419-462-3310.

Stereotactic Breast Biopsy

Women who receive an abnormal mammogram may now benefit from a 3D-guided stereotactic breast biopsy. This is an accurate and efficient image-guided procedure that is less invasive than the traditional surgical alternative to retrieve samples of tissue for examination.