September 22nd was a unique day for me in MRI. I had the rare opportunity to do a scoliosis examination which isn't done often at that office. CDI's protocol for Scoliosis is:
Cervical Spine - T2 Sagittal and T1 Sagittal Flair
Thoracic Spine - T2 Sagittal, T1 Sagittal Flair and T2 Coronal
Lumbar Spine - T2 Sagittal, T1 Sagittal Flair and T2 Axial Gradient
The patient was a young 15 year old female who was in a great deal of pain and having difficult time with her breathing so we had to do quite a few repeats. One of the reasons why the doctor wanted to do a scan of the entire spine was to see why the patient was having so much trouble with her breathing.
We would check with her after each scan so that she would be able to cough, clear her throat or take in a deep breathe, and in between the different spinal scans, we would have to pull the patient out of the MRI so that she could sit up for a moment to relieve some of her pain.
The severity of the patients scoliosis was pretty substantial in the thoracic region so trying to count each vertebra to make sure that we had everything scanned in that area was challenging. On the Thoracic scans, you almost had to run through all of the slices in the sagittal view to count through T1 to T12. The entire exam was pretty rough on the patient but she got through the whole procedure. Overall, it was a great experience to see not just one spinal exam but to see all of the spine done in one procedure.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
September MRI Clinicals
Today at CDI, we had a college student who is a Cross Country runner and has been experiencing lower back, left hip and left buttock pain for the past 8 days. His doctor sent him in for an MRI of the lumbar spine to see if he may have a possible disc, pars or facet injury.
We ran a routine lumbar spine and in looking for a pars fracture the technologist noticed in the Sagittal Stir that the left side of the sacrum was bright. So we re-centered to the sacrum and ran a Coronal view with the angle of the sacrum which really displayed a fracture of the left sacrum. The technologist then called the Radiologist to review the routine Lumbar Spine along with the extra Coronal view to see if he needed any additional views in which he asked her to run a T1 Axial through the sacrum.
It was amazing to see a sacrum fracture. The fact that we were scanning for a possible fracture in the lumbar spine and ended up finding one in the sacrum instead just shows how observant the technologist was. I have so much to learn but I am thankful that I am able to observe and expand my knowledge at CDI here in Indianapolis. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
We ran a routine lumbar spine and in looking for a pars fracture the technologist noticed in the Sagittal Stir that the left side of the sacrum was bright. So we re-centered to the sacrum and ran a Coronal view with the angle of the sacrum which really displayed a fracture of the left sacrum. The technologist then called the Radiologist to review the routine Lumbar Spine along with the extra Coronal view to see if he needed any additional views in which he asked her to run a T1 Axial through the sacrum.
It was amazing to see a sacrum fracture. The fact that we were scanning for a possible fracture in the lumbar spine and ended up finding one in the sacrum instead just shows how observant the technologist was. I have so much to learn but I am thankful that I am able to observe and expand my knowledge at CDI here in Indianapolis. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Getting scan time!
I had a great night tonight and I was able to scan all night long! Woohoo! There are some nights when that just isn't possible because they may get behind schedule due to patients with sedations, contrast, claustrophobia etc. The schedule at CDI's south side office in Indianapolis tends to get pretty busy. I was able to scan a few knees, a cervical and a lumbar which were all my competencies for last semester and a wrist. I am hoping to gain more experience in scanning wrists, ankles, feet and shoulders and hopefully be able to test out on at least three of the four body parts.
It is going to be a juggling act again to get my observation hours in with work and school but I will manage. I know everyone else in this program is probably in the same boat as me with busy lives.
I hope that I have some good stories to tell you later but for now it is still pretty early in the game. I hope everyone is doing well.
It is going to be a juggling act again to get my observation hours in with work and school but I will manage. I know everyone else in this program is probably in the same boat as me with busy lives.
I hope that I have some good stories to tell you later but for now it is still pretty early in the game. I hope everyone is doing well.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Introducing myself - RADT 414 Clinicals
Hello all,
My name is Rhoda Stanton and I am on my second semester of clinicals for my MRI certification. I am still working at Methodist Sports Medicine/The Orthopedic Specialist in Indianapolis Indiana and have been for the past 9 years. I am planning on doing my clinicals again at CDI at the south office in Greenwood Indiana.
I am looking forward to spending more quality time at CDI and I hope to keep absorbing as much information as possible from the great technologist there. I hope everyone has a great semester and I am looking forward to reading your blogs!
Good Luck to all of you!
My name is Rhoda Stanton and I am on my second semester of clinicals for my MRI certification. I am still working at Methodist Sports Medicine/The Orthopedic Specialist in Indianapolis Indiana and have been for the past 9 years. I am planning on doing my clinicals again at CDI at the south office in Greenwood Indiana.
I am looking forward to spending more quality time at CDI and I hope to keep absorbing as much information as possible from the great technologist there. I hope everyone has a great semester and I am looking forward to reading your blogs!
Good Luck to all of you!
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