Outpatient Imaging Center

The Imaging Services departments at Manateee Memorial Hospital includes the area of medicine that uses X-rays, radioactive tracers and ultrasonic waves to detect, diagnose and guide treatment of numerous diseases and injuries.

Imaging Services at Manatee Memorial is accredited by the American College of Radiology, signifying that the facility's personnel qualifications, equipment requirements, quality assurance, and quality control procedures have gone through a rigorous review process and have met specific criteria overseen by board-certified, radiologists and medical physicists in advanced diagnostic imaging.

Imaging Services departments at Manatee Memorial provide the following procedures:

• Multi-Slice Computed Tomography (CT and CTA)
• Cardiac CTA and Calcium Scoring
• Magnetic resonance Imaging (MRI-MRA) including breast and musculoskeletal imaging
• Bone Density Testing
• Digital Mammography
• Ultrasound (including general, breast imaging, vascular and OB)
• Nuclear Medicine
• X-rays - Digital Radiography
• Fluoroscopy
• Interventional Radiology procedures
• Curbside Pick-up Service (for picking up exams/reports)
• Echocardiography
• Heart Catheterization including Percutaneous Cardiac Intervention (PCI)
• Vascular Imaging
• Stress Testing

Computed tomography (CT)

CT scans or CAT scans are short, painless examinations that show organs of interest at selected levels of the body. CT examinations produce detailed organ studies by stacking individual image slices. CT's can image the internal portions of organs and separate overlapping structures precisely. The scans are produced by having the source of the x-ray beam encircle or rotate around the patient.

The CT scanners at Manatee Memorial have earned accreditation from the American College of Radiology.

Computed tomography angiography (cta)

CTA uses a CT scanner to noninvasively produce images of vessels. Iodine is a contrast material that may be injected into a vein using a small intravenous needle, creating no need for an invasive catheter placement. This type of exam is has been used for arterial diseases such as aortic dissection, carotid stenosis, aneurysms and vascular disease of the kidney.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

A MRI is a sophisticated diagnostic technique utilizing radio waves and a strong magnetic field to create clear and detailed pictures of internal organs and tissues. Since MRI's do not use X-rays, no radiation exposure is involved. The radio waves in a MRI are directed at the body's protons within the magnetic field. MRI's are useful in diagnosing diseases in all parts of the body and usually takes only 30-50 minutes.

digital radiology (x-ray)

X-ray images are produced when a small amount of radiation passes through the body to create an image on sensitive digital plates on the other side of the body. The ability of X-rays to penetrate tissues and bones depend on the tissue's composition and mass, and the difference between these two elements creates the image. Contract agents, such as barium, may be swallowed to outline organs at times.

Ultrasound (Sonography)

An ultrasound uses high frequency sound waves to see inside a body. A transducer, a device that acts like a microphone and speaker, is placed in contact with the body using a special gel that helps transmit the sound. As the sound waves pass through the body, echoes are produced and bounce back to the transducer. By reading the echoes, the ultrasound can produce images. The procedure is painless.

Manatee Memorial Hospital has earned accreditation from the American College of Radiology in general ultrasound and breast ultrasound, including ultrasound guided breast biopsy.

Mammography

The Breast Care Center at Manatee Memorial Hospital is accredited by the American College of Radiology and is recognized as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence.