Patients at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals (NNUH) are now benefitting from a streamlined Cone Beam CT (CBCT) service. The previous patient experience could be long and laborious for all involved. Patients could be seen at NNUH, but then needed to be referred to London to receive examinations for maxillofacial surgery, otorhinolaryngology and cervical spine examinations. The patients were not only confronted with a long journey for their examination, but faced a delay in getting results, having to return to NNUH, extending the amount of time they were in pain or hoping to get back to normal life.
NNUH realised the issues this was causing patients and wanted to set up a complete service for all of Norfolk and Norwich to help aid in the unnecessary trips to London, ensuring they can get treated in the comfort of their local community. In order to offer their patients a complete dental service, NNUH reached out to FUJIFILM for help finding the right CBCT solution for them. Working in collaboration with Iain Sims, Senior Account Manager at FUJIFILM UK Medical Systems, they found the NewTom GiANO HR was perfect for what they wanted to achieve. The GiANO HR offers NNUH the complete hybrid CBCT for both 2D and 3D imaging, with high resolution images that capture the smallest of details.
Davina Pawaroo, Consultant Radiologist (Head and Neck) at NNUH had this to say, “Pathology of the temporal bones and paranasal sinuses involves looking at a lot of very small structures in a very small space. The same goes for dental pathology. Excellent spatial resolution and exquisite bone detail is required in order to sufficiently review the anatomy of these areas and gives the radiologists more confidence in diagnostic reporting and surgeons the detail they need before performing complex surgery.”
Davina continued, “Cone beam CT now gives us the ability to image patients at slices of a third of a mm giving us volumetric picture of the patient and has improved imaging of the temporal bones, paranasal sinuses, and dental region for the patients of the region.”
Kerrie Fox, Senior Radiologist at NNUH commented on the GiANO HR’s “improved image quality”, “ease of use” and utilising features such as “quicker exposure time that benefits young children, those with disabilities and those with medical conditions which make it difficult to stay still for the standard length of time; whilst still achieving a diagnostic image.”
This has not only helped NNUH to bring dental imaging closer to home for their patients but helped them to increase their throughput. Being able to offer a CBCT imaging will help NNUH to be able to provide imaging for other sites that don’t have the equipment and “also reduces costs to the Trust as patients no longer must travel to London for this imaging”, with Kerrie following on they had seen a real “increase in patient satisfaction.”
NNUH and FUJIFILM continue to build on their strong relationship, where NNUH have utilised FUJIFILM’s SYNAPSE PACS picture archiving system for over 13 years and will continue that relationship with an extension in the works. SYNAPSE PACS picture archiving system is then used across the NNUH, Cromer Hospital sites, as well as community hospitals and GP surgeries, totalling over 6000 active users. This has linked in with the GiANO HR where images can be shared and assessed via the 120 clinical workstations, and 60 reporting workstations, with an additional 60 home reporting workstations, helping to improve the workflow for the Radiology team at NNUH.
Martin Doddington, Imaging Digital Information Systems Manager at NNUH concluded by saying that “FUJIFILM have continued to demonstrate excellent value for money across PACs, workstations, and the x-ray modalities. We’ve always been excellent partners with FUJIFILM, the service is reliable and trustworthy, and most importantly friendly and helpful. FUJIFILM continues to provide everything we need, and we look forward to continue our relationship with a recently signed contract extension.”
Photo credits, left to right:
Liz Rump, Strategic Development Manager & Project Manager for the CBCT Implementation, NNUH
Kathy Robinson Fitt retired General Radiology Modality Lead, NNUH
Kerrie Fox, Senior Radiographer, NNUH
Davina Pawaroo, Consultant Radiologist – Head & Neck, NNUH
Iain Sims, Senior Account Manager, Fujifilm Medical Systems UK