Tag Archives: Center for Diagnostic Imaging

The Center for Diagnostic Imaging is the premier diagnostic facility in North Miami Beach, committed to providing the best in digital imaging and patient care.

CDI Miami | Wednesday June 6, 2018

Role of X-Ray Services in Your treatment and how to pick the Optimal One

The imaging or X-Ray Services plays a crucial role in determining the root cause of your ailment and thus; lends a hand to the precise treatment.

In most of the cases, your physician may recommend an X-ray from a renowned center for diagnostic imaging. One should always keep in mind that the overall reports of the X-ray are considered as the base for most of the ailment’s treatment, and thus; it should be done precisely.

 

Dive in to know more about the role of imaging in the treatment of life-threatening diseases, and the necessary thing you should consider while choosing the appropriate diagnostic center.

 

It Gives a Clear Idea regarding the Ailment

 

Whether it is a routine mammogram or a 3-dimensional scanning of your organs, one should always consider a renowned agency having a good reputation in the market. Furthermore, some people ignore the prescription of their physician, which one should strictly avoid.

 

Since imaging is the vital part of the treatment of numerous ailments, you should never rely on any agency without consulting your doctor. It is always a great idea to get yourself scanned from the hospital itself from where you are getting the overall treatment of your disease. Most of the hospitals offer best in class X-Ray Services offering precise results in a couple of minutes.

 

The Overall Imaging Quality

 

What if your imaging center gives poor image quality and that too after burning a hole in your pocket? Sounds disturbing, right? Well, most of the X-Ray Services in Miami use outdated machines that may or may not deliver the results as per the requirement. It is strictly advised that one should pick the one with the latest machinery, which is capable of delivering outstanding results.

 

For instance, if you are seeking a renowned MRI center in Miami, you should first do some research over the internet about the renowned practitioners by considering the reviews and ratings provided by other patients.  It is the best way to get the scanning done accurately that also augments the treatment.

 

It has been seen that most of the images captured from outdated machines can’t depict the disease clearly, and thus; the patient’s treatment is adversely affected. No matter what, the quality of the images should be high enough so that it can be analyzed by your doctor.

 

Always Consider the Government Recognized Agency

 

Although you should prefer the one offered by your hospital only, just in case you need third-party imaging services, always seek the one that is recognized by the government. This is necessarily crucial to avoid any glitch while you are under treatment for any disease that can severely affect your overall well-being.

 

These are some indispensable things one should never forget if they are undergoing any treatment and require imaging for the same.

CDI Miami | Tuesday June 5, 2018

What is a Mammogram? How Can You Detect It?

A mammogram is termed as an X-ray of the breast. Mammograms have the ability to figure out the breast cancer that is difficult for you, your specialist or a medical caretaker to determine. Besides, they play a pivotal role to detect breast cancer at an early stage.

The earlier you can discover the breast cancer, the greater the possibility that the treatment will work. The main objective of a mammogram is to discover cancer before it begins to cause side effects, as well as determining the size of a breast tumor, and how far it has spread.  So, it’s all about what is a mammogram?

Now, you’ll be thinking of how mammogram can help in the detecting the breast cancer. Let’s have a look at the following:

Kinds of Mammograms

A screening mammogram is an X-ray examination of the woman breasts that have no symptoms of breast cancer. The objective is to recognize tumor when it is still too little to be felt by a woman or her specialist. Screening mammograms incorporate 2D and 3D imaging.

  • 2D mammogram

In 2D mammograms, pictures are taken just from the side and front of breasts. This digital X-ray picture of the breast is prescribed for the routine breast cancer screenings.

In 3D mammograms, numerous two-dimensional X-ray pictures of your breasts are taken from several angles. PC programming consolidates the various 2D pictures into a three-dimensional picture.

A diagnostic mammogram is ideal in case you’ve seen any changes in your breast, for example, hardening or a lump, while looking at your armpits or breasts. This mammogram might also be important if a deformity has been discovered during the mammogram screening or in the event you have a family history of breast cancer.

Other Methods for Breast Imaging

MRI

This is an imaging practice that utilizes a magnet connected to a PC in order to make detailed images of your breast. It can better evaluate cancers or diagnose a woman who has a high risk of cancer.

Ultrasound

It utilizes sound waves to create a picture of your breast tissue, known as the sonogram.  It is an ideal approach as tells the differentiation between solid masses and cysts without making use of a needle to draw fluid.

Preventing breast cancer and also the early detection is important for maintaining a good health. Center for Diagnostic Imaging, diagnostic center in Miami is equipped with the most advanced imaging technology to discover health issues before they become problems. So, as if now you are aware of what is a mammogram, you can detect it at early stages. For more details visit the website today!

CDI Miami | Tuesday March 27, 2018

What is a PET Scan?

A Positron Emission Tomography (“PET”) scan is an imaging test that allows your doctor to check for diseases in your body.

The scan uses a special dye that has radioactive tracers. These tracers are injected into a vein in your arm. Your organs and tissues then absorb the tracer when highlighted under a PET scan. The tracers help your doctor see how well your organs and tissues are working. The PET scan can measure blood flow, oxygen use, glucose metabolism (how your body uses sugar), and much more.

 

Why a PET Scan Is Performed
Your doctor may order a PET scan to inspect the blood flow, oxygen intake and metabolism of organs and tissues, they are commonly used to uncover:

  • -Cancer
  • -Heart problems
  • -Brain disorders
  • -Central nervous system disorders

PET scans give doctors glimpses of complex systemic diseases, as they show disorders at the cellular level. Here are a few examples:

  • -seizures
  • -tumors
  • -coronary artery disease
  • -brain tumors

Risks of a PET Scan
The PET scan involves radioactive tracers, however, the exposure to radiation is minimal. According to the Mayo Clinic, radiation levels are too low to affect normal processes in your body. The risks of the test are minimal compared with the benefits the results from diagnosing serious medical conditions.
However, radiation exposure is unsafe for developing fetuses. If you’re pregnant or breast-feeding, do not get a PET scan.

How a PET Scan Is Performed

Before the scan, you’ll get tracers through a vein in your arm, a solution you drink, or in a gas. Your body needs time to absorb the tracers, so you’ll wait about an hour before the scan begins.

Next, you’ll undergo the scan. This involves lying on a narrow table attached to a PET machine, which looks like a giant letter “O”. The table glides slowly into the machine so that the scan can be conducted.

During the scan, lie still. The technician will let you know when it is that you need to remain still. You may be asked to hold your breath for short periods. You’ll hear various buzzing and clicking noises during the test.

When all the necessary images have been recorded, you will slide out of the machine.

After the PET Scan

After the test, you can go about your day unless your doctor gives you other instructions. Drink plenty of fluids after the test to help flush the tracers out of your system. Generally, all tracers leave your body after a few days.

 

CDI Miami | Monday March 13, 2017

What are the different types of breast cancer?

Although many of us think of breast cancer as a single disease, the diagnosis is not limited to one type. Most breast cancers start as small tumors. Some stay put; others travel. How the tumor behaves and how it grows will dictate how it’s classified and your treatment options.

The Cancer Treatment Centers of America website broadly organizes breast cancers into two groups based on how the cancer behaves: noninvasive (in situ) breast cancer and invasive (infiltrating) breast cancer.

Noninvasive Breast Cancers

In noninvasive breast cancer, “cancerous cells remain in a particular location of the breast, without spreading to surrounding tissue, lobules or ducts,” the website reports. Noninvasive breast cancers are generally earlier stage cancers that respond well to treatment. Ductal Carcinoma In Situ, or DCIS, is the most common form of noninvasive breast cancer; the American Cancer Society reports that 60,000 cases of DCIS, or about 20 percent of all breast cancer cases, are diagnosed in the United States each year.

DCIS begins inside the milk ducts – ‘in situ’ means that it stays within the duct and is considered noninvasive because it hasn’t spread to other surrounding tissues. Dr. Harold Burstein, institute physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School says it’s a “precancerous lesion, often diagnosed in women who’ve had mammograms, and it’s sort of a precursor to breast cancer.” Similar to a colon polyp. “It’s a benign growth, but you remove it to remove the growth” and prevent the development of invasive cancer.

Even with surgery to remove the growth, patients with SCIS are at higher risk of reoccurrence and later development of invasive cancer, but breastcancer.org reports the rate of reoccurrence is less than 30 percent.

Invasive Breast Cancers

In invasive breast cancers “cancerous cells break through normal breast tissues barriers and spread to other parts of the body through the bloodstream and lymph nodes,” reports Breastcancer.org. According to the American Cancer Society, invasive ductal carcinoma, or IDC, is the most common form of breast cancer – about 80 percent of cancer diagnoses are ISC and about 180,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the U.S.

As with DCIS, IDC also begins inside the milk ducts, but these growths have moved beyond those boundaries and have begun invading or infiltrating the tissues around the ducts. Unlike noninvasive lesions, these growths are cancerous tumors, and treatment will likely be more aggressive than with a SCIS diagnosis. If left untreated, IDC usually spreads to the lymph nodes and then onwards to other parts of the body.

Get your yearly 3d mammogram and breast cancer screening at CBCC! Early detection is the best way to fight breast cancer. Call 800-371-0002 to schedule your appointment. The Center for Diagnostic Imaging in Miami also offers advanced MRIs, CT Scans, and more.

types of breast cancer miami

CDI Miami | Thursday February 16, 2017

Doctor’s Orders: Is it the right time to get a CT Scan?

A new report in tomorrow’s issues of the New England Journal of Medicine raises serious concerns about the use, and overuse of CT scanning. While individual risks of developing cancer from a CT scan are relatively low, the researchers ventured that repeated exposure to radiation from diagnostic imaging could potentially threaten patient populations if left unchecked.

How can you tell if it is time to get a CT scan?

In a traditional X-ray – a chest X-ray, for example – radiation goes through you from one side to the other with 3-D information ultimately projected onto a two-dimensional picture. With a CT scan, an X-ray tube rotates around the patient and presents the results to you as a three-dinensional picture. The advantage is that it’s much more sensitive, is high resolution, and offers much more anatomically specific information with great detail.

When should you get a CT scan?

If you think something is desperately wrong with you and you need an immediate answer. For example, if you have sudden severe abdominal pain or an intense headache that came out of nowhere.

CT scans are incredibly accurate, and can help you determine the source of your pain. For instance, CT scans can prevent false-diagnosis of appendicitis, having reduced false positives by nearly 20%.

Are their risks involved in CT scanning?

There is very minimal risk in CT scanning.  For children, the risk of developing a fatal cancer from radiation exposure is somewhere around 1 in 500 or 1 in 1,000 – the older you get, the lower the risk becomes. For an adult, the risk is around 1 in 2,000. At this point, people believe there is a linear relationship between the dose and risk in half.

Are there alternatives to CT scanning that patients should know about or ask their doctors?

You can always ask if there are ways to find out the answer without using radiation. Using ultrasound, for example, or doing an MRI scan. Those don’t use ionizing radiation, so there is virtually no risk. If a child is getting a scan, the parent can make sure that the radiology technician is using the correct pediatric doses.

Are CT scans useful for asymptomatic patients?

CT scans are not necessary for asymptomatic patients. Scans should only be used when there is a suspicion of an illness or disorder. There are still studies determining the risk profile of scans on different populations.

CDI Miami | Tuesday October 4, 2016

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This month, we remind our patients to take steps to have a plan to detect breast cancer in its early stages and to encourage the women in your life to do the same. This plan can be as simple as performing regular breast self-exams and scheduling your clinical breast exams and mammograms based on your age and health history.

 

The American Cancer Society recommends that women without breast symptoms who are 40 and older should have a mammogram every year. Beyond mammograms, our CDI centers in South Miami and Aventura offer advanced Breast MRIs. MRI excels at imaging soft tissue and is therefore recommended for women with higher risk levels for breast cancer.

 

Is a Breast MRI Right for Me?

Use these guidelines developed by the American Cancer Society to help determine if you should talk to your doctor about a Breast MRI exam.

 

Recommended Annual Screening Indications

  • BRCA1 – Women with this gene mutation have a 60-80% chance of developing breast cancer over a lifetime.
  • BRCA2 – Women with this gene mutation have a 40-80% chance of developing ovarian cancer over a lifetime.
  • Women with a first-degree relative who is a CRCA carrier, but who is untested.
  • Women with a lifetime risk of breast cancer of 20-25% or greater.
  • Women who have had radiation to the chest area between the ages of 10-30 (usually for Hodgkin’s Disease).

Diagnostic Indications

  • Evaluation of suspicious clinical or imaging findings that remain indeterminate after a mammogram, ultrasound and physical exam
  • Finding the extent of infiltrating ductal carcinoma and infiltrating lobular carcinoma
  • Contralateral breast examinations in patients with breast malignancy
  • Evaluation before, during and after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy
  • Evaluation pre- or post-lumpectomy
  • Suspected tumor recurrence in patients with or without post-operative tissue reconstruction
  • Checking for breast malignancy with primary tumor unknown (MRI can usually see the exact location of a mass to save the breast)
  • Checking for leakage in silicone augmentation (verify insurance coverage prior to exam)

 

If you need a Breast MRI or 3D mammogram, take advantage of our Comprehensive Breast Care Center (“CBCC”) for the best treatment options in South Florida. We specialize in early detection of breast cancer, provided by a fully trained staff and team of Board Certified Radiologists. With locations in North Miami Beach, South Dade, and Aventura, CBCC has South Florida covered when it comes to advanced breast cancer screenings. Call us at 1.800.371.0002 to schedule your appointment today.

CDI Miami | Friday August 12, 2016

Do You Really Need That MRI?

Low back pain, headaches, heart palpitations; they could be minor, everyday health woes, or red flags that something serious is going on. Is it time to get an MRI?
With so many advances in medical technology at our fingertips in recent decades, doctors and patients have scurried to have images taken to rule out worst case scenarios.
The Choosing Wisely campaign was launched by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation about three years ago, said Dr. Richard Baron, president and CEO of the foundation. The goal behind it, he said, is to help physicians and patients make more informed decisions about medical interventions, based on medical evidence. In other words, only get that MRI or EKG, or pop that pill, if research has actually proven it’s likely to help in a case like yours.
“The idea is there are things we know get done a lot, but the evidence suggests we probably shouldn’t be doing them as much as we are doing them,” Baron told CBS News.
When the campaign first launched, there was some resistance, “It was counterintuitive to some professional societies and they said that some of their members may not like this because it is how they make their living,” Baron said. But it ended up causing quite a buzz, he added.
In a system where health care providers are being paid on a fee-for-service basis, more medical tests are going to be done than are needed, said Baron. “Some have just gotten into the habit of doing it and they think more is always better. And many patients think this, too,” Baron said.

 

The following are overused tests that should prompt serious discussion between doctors and patients. They include:

  • MRIs for headaches and low back pain
  • CMR, an imaging test for chest pain and cardiac screening
  • Whole body scans to screen for cancer
  • Some repeat colonoscopies
  • Certain mammograms, such as before elective breast surgery or after breast reconstruction
  • CT scan and MRI screening tests for brain aneurysms
  • Blood tests for miscarriage risk and urinary tract infections in older people

For neurology, Callaghan said, “MRIs for headaches and low back pain are overused. It’s one of the most-duplicated tests.”

 

 

 

 

CDI Miami | Wednesday July 6, 2016

Can 3D printing brain tumors help tackle cancer?

It has been used to create everything from custom mobile phone cases to clothing.

Now one group of scientists are using 3D printing technology to produce something far more unusual – brain tumors.

Brain tumors are notoriously difficult to study, partly because of where in the body they are found, but also because they tend to behave very differently when grown in the laboratory.

A team of scientists are hoping to reproduce tiny balls of cancerous cells that mimic those seen in patients with brain tumors in the hope of studying them in more detail.

According to Dr. Nicholas Leslie, a reader in bioengineering at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, said that by printing brain tumor stem cells alongside other types of cells that are found around, it may be possible to recreate them far more accurately in the laboratory.

Another colleague, Dr. Will Shu, said that printing 3D models of brain tumors would allow scientists to study brain tumors in more detail and also help to reduce the use of animals in such research.

 

CDI Miami | Tuesday March 29, 2016

MRI helps predict preterm birth

MRI of the cervix is more accurate than ultrasound at predicting if some women will have a preterm birth, according to a new study from Italy appearing in the online edition of Radiology.

Continue reading

CDI Miami | Tuesday January 26, 2016

The Benefits of PET/CT Scans

Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning adds a whole new dimension to a radiologist’s ability to diagnose and directly treat disease.  PET scans show metabolic function and abnormal molecular cell activity from anatomic structures. PET scans can detect very small cancerous tumors as well as subtle changes in the brain and heart.

It is a nuclear medicine imaging test used to diagnose a variety of diseases, including many types of cancers, heart disease, etc. In PET scanning, a patient is injected with a radioactive tracer infused with simple sugars.  Cancerous cells and metabolically active organs metabolize these sugars much faster than normal cells.  As these sugars are consumed, they begin to decay and emit positrons.  These emissions collide with electrons, sending gamma rays out from the body.  These rays are captured and processed by a computer to form “hot spots” on the images.

Since the disease process begins at a chemical level long before it presents structural changes, the information from a PET scan can provide radiologists a signal that there is a problem even before anything would show up through normal examinations.

PET scans are a valuable tool; PET scans have recently been combined with computed tomography (CT) scanning technology to increase results.  CT imaging uses X-ray equipment to create detailed images of slices of the inside of the body. The PET-CT combination allows any abnormality on the PET scan to be precisely located within the body, allowing for more accurate diagnosis of any problems. Both types of scan are critical in diagnosing disease. Before the PET CT scan option, radiologists had to perform both scans separately and then compare images to determine the location of an abnormality within the body. Combined PET CT scanning provides the detailed information of CT with the “hot spot” information of the PET scan, offering more accuracy in targeting a disease site through only one exam.

These scans can often detect disease much earlier, allowing for treatment and cure with higher success. It can also show the “staging” of a disease, providing radiologists with invaluable information about the disease’s growth and progression. They can show whether a tumor is benign or cancerous and can also monitor the effectiveness of treatment.

PET scanning is a powerful diagnostic test that is having a major impact on the diagnosis and treatment of disease. It provides unique information which may assist in making a diagnosis, in determining treatment or providing the likely outcome of any disease.

Nuclear medicine tests, with a full body scan through the use of PET technology can provide information on how tissue or organs are working, which cannot be obtained from other imaging techniques. PET scans may detect disease earlier than other types of scanning by identifying early changes to tissue and organs.

Radiologists at the Center for Diagnostic Imaging use this advanced technology as their preferred choice to provide outstanding patient care with preventative and diagnostic purposes.