Diagnostic Services
Diagnostic Imaging Procedures
Computerized Tomography (CT Scans)
Mary Black Health System's CT scanners can produce clearly defined three-dimensional images of all body systems—including organs, bones, arteries and veins.
Using high speed X-rays that rotate in continuous 360-degree motion around the patient, incredibly detailed laser images of cross-sectional slices of the body are created on a computer screen. Tissue abnormalities, tumor masses, tiny fractures, displaced bones, and unusual accumulations of fluid may be detected so that physicians can pinpoint exact areas for treatment.
We have expanded our services to meet the needs of area patients and physicians by obtaining a new, 64-slice scanner. This CT (Computed Tomography) scanner will enhance diagnostic imaging services beyond any healthcare provider in the area. With this machine, Mary Black Health System has one of the most advanced CT scanning sites in the Upstate.
The CT is a type of rotating X-ray that uses a computer to produce exact, clear, still, cross-sectional images (“slices”) of parts of the body. The number of slices refers to the number of images that can be generated with one rotation of the gantry, the circular shaped part of the scanner. It differs from the current 4 and 16 slice scanners available in the community. So, instead of 4 or 16 images in one rotation, a 64-slice scanner can produce up to 64 images in one rotation. Think of it like a loaf of bread, slicing the loaf in 4, 16 or 64 slices.
The ability to image more quickly in thinner sections over larger distances drastically improves image quality and speed, and allow for improved diagnosis. For example, imagine looking for a tumor the size of a pea somewhere in your lungs. With our current scanner, one rotation will give us 4 images, or slices. With the advanced machine, one rotation will produce 64 images. While our existing machine produces images typically 5.0mm thick, roughly half the thickness of half a slice of bread, the new machine can produce images 0.625mm thick, about as thin as a grain of sand. The more slices we can produce, and the thinner the slices are, the greater the probability of finding that tiny growth in the body.
Comfort, clarity and accuracy are also factors to consider. Now we ask patients to lie motionless and hold their breath while the gantry circulates again and again and again. With the new machine, overall examination time will be reduced, benefiting trauma patients and others in pain. Not only does this make for a more comfortable exam—especially for trauma patients—but less motion results in clearer images that are easier to read which can affect the accuracy of the diagnosis.
The machine also offers tremendous benefit for cardiac patients as it can scan the heart, a function we are not able to adequately perform now. Because of the motion of the heart, even a 16-slice unit will produce blurry images. The advanced machine rotates in less than half a second and can be timed in rhythm with a beating heart to produce absolutely clear images of a heart in motion.
The 64 slice scanner is used for a wide variety of conditions including evaluating patients who come through the Emergency Department with internal injuries and skeletal fractures, patients with a multitude of conditions (including chest and abdominal pain), and heart and stroke patients. In addition, it will enable the radiologists performing biopsies for cancer diagnosis to provide timely detection, staging and response to treatment.
For more information about our 64 slice scanner and Computerized Tomography (CT) capabilities, call our Radiology Department at 864-573-3865.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
If your physician recommends an MRI, you don’t have to travel far from home. A brand new MRI suite has recently opened to provide you with state-of-the-art imaging. MBHS has two G.E. Twin speed excite scanners, one located at the hospital, and one at new Steadman Hawkins Imaging Center, offering a patient friendly design, maximum comfort and shorter exam times.
Mary Black Health System is committed to offering advanced patient care and to maintaining leading medical technology. Providing Services at two locations is just one more example of our dedication to efficient, professional health care. With our expanding range of services and technology, now there is less need for patients to leave Mary Black Health System to receive quality medical care.
For more information about our MRI service, ask your physician, or call our Radiology Department at 864-573-3865.
Mammography
If you are looking for a fully accredited Mammography program, you need to look no further than Mary Black Health System. All our Mammography locations are accredited by both the American College of Radiology (ACR) and MSQA (Mammography Quality Standards Act), the FDA's federal accreditation program. Accreditation means you can rest assured that your mammogram will be performed by a licensed radiographer and the mammography equipment meets all the requirements set forth by the ACR and FDA.
Our state-of-the-art equipment is regularly checked for accuracy and is used only for mammography. Our technologists perform required daily, weekly and monthly quality control tests. To assure the highest quality images possible, "phantom" tests are regularly performed, and a radiation physicist is hired annually to conduct quality tests to assure low-dose exposure. The equipment is also tested each year for compliance by the State of South Carolina.
Mary Black Health System's mammography clinics utilize private, one-on-one consultations and exams with qualified female technologists. Having completed a two-year radiological technology program, each technologist is registered with the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT). They also have ARRT Mammography Certification and are South Carolina licensed. Each technologist completes 10-12 hours of required continuing education in mammography each year.
From the equipment to the technologists to the radiologists, Mary Black Health System mammography team goes above and beyond the call of duty to meet all ACR, state and federal requirements and your expectations.
For more information, ask your physician about Mary Black Health System's mammography services. We have three convenient locations: Women’s Pavilion,Westside Urgent Care Clinic and Peachviiew Radiology Center in Gaffney. For more information, please call our Radiology Department at 864-573-3865.
Nuclear Medicine
Mary Black Health System's Nuclear Medicine Department offers the latest technology, including what is known as "Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT)." Used for assessing the function of a variety of body systems, this technology creates extremely detailed two or three dimensional images to accurately depict the physiology and function of an internal organ instead of only its anatomy. SPECT often facilitates a more efficient and rapid diagnosis than is possible with other imaging techniques.
Nuclear Medicine scans perform assessments in procedures such as: bone, kidney, thyroid, liver, spleen, and gallbladder scans, as well as lung ventilation perfusion scans, parathyroid lymphoscintiography, cardiac perfusion and function, red and white blood cell gastric empting , thyroid treatment, and gi bleed studies.
Nuclear Medicine also offers an Advanced Cardiac Program which allows 3-D computer imaging of the heart in motion; and important assessments can be made while stressing the heart (by walking a treadmill or by receiving pharmacological stress testing by adenosine or dobutamine injection). Being able to watch the heart function on the computer screen helps physicians study blood flow and determine heart damage, if any. This is a non-invasive procedure that physicians can utilize in patients who may be a poor candidate for more, invasive procedures such as cardiac catheterization. The heart image can be manipulated on the screen to allow the physician views of the beating heart from numerous angles. Myocardial perfusion testing in Nuclear Medicine can identify heart disease in its earliest stages, allowing physicians to recommend various effective methods for controlling its progression. In With this process, a radioisotope is injected and images of the functioning heart are obtained. The absorption or rejection of the drug solution by different areas of the heart indicate where disease is present and where the damage has occurred.
For more information about the hospital's Nuclear Medicine program, call the Radiology Department at 864-573-3865.
Picture Archive Communication System(PACs)
Mary Black Health System also has PACS, which provides immediate access to electronic images through out our network, as well as after-hours and weekends between the hospital and consulting radiologists.
PACs enables Physicians to have access to images throughout our Health System, to discuss impressions and recommendations for treatment. PACs also enables us to send images to highly qualified Specialty trained radiologists significantly enhancing your quality of care.
A technologist at the hospital can transmit radiological images to the off-site radiologists with a touch of a button for faster consultations
PACs more than a time and money saver--in an emergency, it can be a life saver as well.
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is a medical procedure that uses sound waves to see inside the body. The sound waves pass harmlessly through the skin and bounce off certain organs and tissues in the body creating "echoes." These echoes are reflected through a transducer to a television monitor.
Ultrasound is used in obstetrical diagnostic studies, as well as studies involving the breast, abdomen and pelvis, thyroid gland, carotid arteries, and various peripheral vascular studies.
At Mary Black Health System, our Ultrasound Department employs the latest technology and technical experience to achieve the highest quality sonograms. Advancements in broad-band flow imaging, tissue harmonic imaging, have led to better enhancements and imaging.
For more information about the hospital's Ultrasound Department, call the Radiology Department at 864-573-3865.
Cardiac Cath/Angiography Suite
Mary Black’s Cardiac Cath Lab and Angio Suite, added to the hospital in 1999, is one of the Upstate’s finest. It features the highest level of technology available and a skilled staff that emphasizes a team approach.
Experienced physicians perform cardiac catheterization or angiography procedures using the lab’s very specialized X-ray and monitoring equipment. Cardiac catheterization and angiography are highly specialized diagnostic techniques that are performed hundreds of thousands of times each year in this country. The complication rate is low, and the procedures are most often performed on an outpatient basis.
A long, narrow, flexible tube — called a catheter — is inserted through either the femoral artery in the groin or the brachial artery in the arm. Before inserting the catheter, your doctor will administer a local anesthetic to numb the insertion site.
Patients will experience minimal discomfort and be under the constant care of skilled specialists. Patients are awake during the procedures, though they are usually given medication to help them relax.
Once the catheter has reached the point of interest, an X-ray camera ensures that it is positioned accurately. Movement of the camera allows arteries to be viewed in three dimensions and from different angles. An X-ray dye injected through the catheter fills the artery, allowing the physician to look for any blockages that may cause tissue damage.
A cardiac cath is a procedure in which a cardiologist uses the catheters to look for blockages in the arteries surrounding the heart. The left ventricle, or pumping chamber of the heart, may also be viewed. Angiography is a procedure performed by an interventional radiologist. This procedure also uses catheters but looks at arteries in other parts of the body such as the abdomen, neck, legs or even the brain or other organs.
These procedures reveal how many (if any) blockages are present, where they are and how much of the blood flow is restricted. Cardiac catheterization and angiography provide accurate and comprehensive information about specific areas of interest, permitting your doctor to make informed treatment decisions.
The Cath/Angio Suite offers a complete line of diagnostic cardiac procedures performed by interventional radiologists such as: venography, implantation of venous access devices, vascular angioplasty, stenting and pain management.
For more information about the Cath Lab, call Tammy Taylor at 573-3581.
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