Is Paediatric Medicine The Next Area Of Growth For Scans?
The growing use of medical image sharing is a reflection of two significant developments. One of these is advances in scanning technology, enabling more and better images to be used effectively in diagnostics and treatment decisions.
The other major development is the use of the cloud to help share images across settings. This enables medics in different locations to have access to the same images, which makes it possible to access expertise remotely and ensure patient care is not compromised.
However, a third way in which scanning is advancing is in its increasing use in paediatric care.
Writing in Pharma Forum recently, experienced doctor and scientist Dr Konstanze Diefenbach stated that the “constant stream of breakthroughs in medical imaging” has been transformational.
She added: “This evolution is especially important in paediatrics, where medical imaging is used to make clinical decisions across a vast range of conditions.”
Why Do Paediatric Scans Need To Be Different?
Dr Diefenbach explained that because children are not just “small adults”, but have a “unique anatomy and physiology”, increasing the capacity to tailor scanning has proved invaluable in diagnostics and finding the right treatments.
She listed areas of the anatomy where such scanning is particularly important in paediatric care, including:
- The central nervous system
- The chest
- The abdomen
- The pelvis
- Musculoskeletal tissue
As paediatric scanning proves increasingly useful, it follows that the importance of medical image sharing in this particular field of medicine will also grow.
All around the world, new scanning systems are emerging to provide better care for children at various ages.
For example, a new full-body MRI scanning system called Ascent has just been approved for use in the United States for scanning infants and neonates, providing enhanced technology for the very youngest patients.
Matt Storer, the CEO of the device’s creators Eyas Medical Imaging, said it would help doctors to “save more babies’ lives with state-of-the-art, precision imaging”.