Diagnostic imaging has come a long way from low-resolution images of the human anatomy and days-long post-processing. In 1999, it could take five days1 for computed tomographic (CT) images to be turned around.
Today, a radiologist can scan a baby’s vital organs and see a 3D reconstruction within seconds. With 3D printing capabilities, those images can then be used to provide a 360-degree view of a patient’s heart.
In the past three decades pediatric radiology has been transformed by imaging technology. More simplicity, speed and accuracy has allowed improved workflows, more accurate measurements and faster clinical decisions, but likely nothing has opened up as many new opportunities as the transition from 2D to 3D imaging.
Phoenix Children’s Hospital has been using 3D imaging for several years, and has incorporated it into several areas of its patient care, such as preoperative planning, research and education, and patient and family support, including its pediatric patients.
“We’ve made a big effort in the department of radiology to better present imaging data to the users of that information,” says Dr. Richard Towbin, Chief of Radiology at Phoenix Children’s. “Any time we get digital data we can morph it into 3D, display it in 3D, and then, with the materials and unique data that we’re getting, make decisions which are going to improve the clinical outcome.”