Patients who used to travel hundreds of miles for specialized imaging can now get it in Quincy at the Blessing Health Center 4800 Maine. Blessing is the third provider in the country to offer Dynamic Digital Radiography (DDR), the next evolution in imaging. DDR gives clinicians the ability to see what they have not been able to see before with other types of medical imaging.
A standard X-ray takes a still image, similar to a photo, while a patient is standing still or lying flat on their back. DDR takes a series of still images at a very fast speed and with a low radiation dose while the patient is moving in the way that causes them pain, to create a cine loop, or video. With DDR, doctors can view a patient’s full range of motion in joints, tendons and ligaments in their extremities, neck and spine. This capability provides immediate information for diagnosis, surgical planning and treatment follow-up, resulting in more individualized patient care.
DDR can help reduce the need for additional or more expensive imaging tests, such as an MRI or CT, because it provides physicians with more information on which to base a diagnosis.
“Before the Blessing Health Center offered DDR, patients either were not getting imaging for their conditions, or traveled hundreds of miles for a similar, but more costly imaging that exposed them to a higher level of radiation dose,” said Maureen Kahn, RN, MHA, MSN, president and chief executive officer, Blessing Health System and Blessing Hospital. “Now, these patients and their doctors have an alternative that provides even better image quality, is less harmful, less expensive and is close to their home.”
“The Blessing Health Center 4800 Maine is the region’s center for advanced healthcare technology and imaging equipment, built around our patients to give them the right care at the right time,” she concluded.
