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Dual Energy Chest Radiography Comes To Northwest Community
What Is Dual Energy Chest Radiography?
A new digital technique for obtaining chest radiographs (xrays) that better visualize both soft tissue and bone pathology.
How Does Dual Energy Chest Radiography Work?
When a chest radiograph is obtained with this technique, two frontal exposures are taken milliseconds apart, each utilizing different xray energies. These images can be manipulated and subtracted to highlight either bony or soft tissue structures.
What Advantages Can Dual Energy Chest Radiography Provide?
It is most helpful for detecting subtle parenchymal lung abnormalities, such as small nodules and ill-defined areas of consolidation. It can also be useful for determining if a nodule is calcified, which proves a benign etiology.
What Does Dual Energy Chest Radiography Mean To The Patient?
The patient receives a nominal increase in radiation exposure but will notice no difference between this technique and that of a conventional chest radiograph. The patient may benefit from the earlier detection of a subtle lesion, and there is no additional charge for this examination.
What Does Dual Energy Chest Radiography Mean To The Clinician?
The process will be essentially transparent to you. If you would specifically like your patient to receive a dual energy chest examination, request it on the order and we will triage appropriately.
What Does Dual Energy Mean To The Radiologist?
The radiologist will now interpret four images instead of two for a PA and lateral chest radiograph; the conventional PA and lateral views, as well as additional "soft tissue" and "bone" subtracted frontal views.
Who Should Get Dual Energy Chest Radiographs?
As this time, all outpatients over age 40 with an order for a chest xray will receive a dual energy chest radiograph where available. The necessary equipment is currently present within the Busse Center for Specialty Medicine at the main hospital campus and also within the Schaumburg Imaging Center at the Schaumburg Treatment Center. It is not yet available at the Lake Zurich or Buffalo Grove Treatment Centers.
Are There Any "Real Life" Examples At Northwest Community Where This Technique Has Been Helpful?
Yes. The following images are from one of our initial patients who had a routine chest radiograph at the Busse Center performed with the dual energy technique.
Right upper lobe as seen on the standard frontal chest radiograph. Note the subtle nodule which could easily have escaped detection.
Right upper lobe as seen on the subtracted "soft tissue" image. The overlying bony structures have been digitally removed. The nodule is no longer as subtle and was prospectively identified.
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