Brookings Health System to Celebrate Role of Imaging in Health Care

Brookings Health System will recognize the significant contributions imaging has made to the field of medicine during National Radiologic Technology Week (NRTW), Nov. 6-12.

Medical imaging has grown significantly since Nov. 8, 1895, when German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen first discovered the X-ray. His discovery laid the groundwork for the advanced medical imaging equipment located at Brookings Health System today. The modern X-ray, as well as CT, ultrasound, MRI and nuclear medicine equipment, uses the basics of Roentgen's science to help physicians detect, diagnose and treat injury, illness and disease.

As imaging has progressed, X-rays have remained the most frequently used form of medical imaging.

In addition to the traditional use of producing images of any bone in the body, X-rays are used in highly sophisticated radiology systems that perform medical tests such as angiograms, fluoroscopy, cardiac stress tests and thyroid scans, as well as interventional and therapeutic treatments. Images obtained with these machines can be digitized and sent to any computer for instant physician diagnosis and patient communication, rather than developing a film of the image.

Brookings Health System performs 12,000 imaging procedures annually using advanced radiology systems for tests, including X-rays, nuclear medicine, ultrasounds, CT scans, MRIs and general diagnostic radiology.

For more information about Brookings Health System's full imaging services, visit www.brookingshealth.org.

About Brookings Health System
Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed Brookview Manor nursing home, and Brookhaven Estates apartments. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, and extended care services. The emergency room is staffed 24 hours a day and provides around the clock medical-nursing care for patient needs ranging from minor injuries to life threatening crises. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.

PHOTO: Radiologic Technologist Mary Jane Foster conducts a MRI procedure for a patient. Brookings Health System performs 12,000 imaging procedures annually.