Radiology

Sakakawea Medical Center’s Radiology Department is proud to offer the latest Advanced Digital Imaging Technology. Our state-of-the-art technology equipment is completely digital and filmless. In addition, our medical imaging department provides in-house services Monday through Friday from 7 am – 5 pm and emergency room services on-call evenings and weekends, 24/7, 365 days a year.

All studies are transmitted and interpreted by radiologists in Bismarck to receive same day results, saving you time and money. In addition, studies are stored on a picture archiving and communication system (PACS), where they have the capability to be electronically sent almost anywhere in North Dakota.

The following services are provided

• Computed Tomography (CT scan)

  • uses x-rays to provide 3-dimensional imaging of the body. Providers can elect to use oral and/or IV contrast medium to further evaluate an area. The in-depth look at the body these scans provide allows our providers to more effectively detect a wide range of illnesses, including, but not limited to, cancer, stroke, blood clots, blockages, lung disease and disease processes in the body.

• Bone Densitometry

  • Sakakawea Medical Center’s DEXA scanner is the gold-standard osteoporosis screening tool. Bone Densitometry is a radiology procedure that determines bone mineral density or bone mass. A dedicated dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) unit is used to produce x-ray images of the spine and hip. The unit will generate a computerized report that will include an image of the tested area, the bone mineral density measurement, and the T-score, which is a comparison to the peak bone mass measurements in a young population of the same gender and race.

    Bone mass measurement studies provide information that will determine your risk of fractures and/or osteoporosis. If you are diagnosed with osteoporosis, your doctor may start a treatment plan to slow down or stop bone loss and reduce your risk of fracture

• Ultrasound

  • also called sonography, uses sound waves to develop ultrasound images of what's going on inside the body. An instrument called a transducer emits high-frequency sound, inaudible to human ears, and then records the echoes as the sound waves bounce back to determine the size, shape, and consistency of soft tissues and organs.

    This information is relayed in real time to produce images on a computer screen. Ultrasound technologists, or sonographers, have special training in how to perform the test. Then a radiologist will interpret the ultrasound images. This technology can help diagnose and treat certain conditions.

    • Ultrasound imaging has many uses in medicine, from confirming and dating a pregnancy to diagnosing certain conditions and guiding doctors through precise medical procedures.
    • Pregnancy: Ultrasound images have many uses during pregnancy. Early on, they may be used to determine due dates, reveal the presence of twins or other multiples, and rule out ectopic pregnancies. They also are valuable screening tools in helping to detect potential problems, including some birth defects, placental issues, breech positioning, and others. Many expectant parents look forward to learning the sex of their babies via ultrasound midway through a pregnancy. And later in pregnancy, doctors can even use ultrasounds to estimate how large a baby is just before delivery.
    • Diagnostics: Doctors employ ultrasound imaging in diagnosing a wide variety of conditions affecting the organs and soft tissues of the body, including the heart and blood vessels, liver, gallbladder, spleen, pancreas, kidneys, bladder, uterus, ovaries, eyes, thyroid, and testicles. Ultrasounds do have some diagnostic limitations, however; sound waves do not transmit well through dense bone or parts of the body that may hold air or gas, such as the bowel.
    • Use during medical procedures: Ultrasound imaging can help doctors during procedures such as needle biopsies, which require the doctor to remove tissue from a very precise area inside the body for testing in a lab.
• Full Field Digital Mammography

  • uses x-ray to image the breast as a screening tool for cancer. Our full field digital system utilizes a detector that processes images directly to a computer screen. The compression paddles are “flex” paddles and can make the exam more comfortable for the patient. Because of the improved workflow of the unit, exams can be completed in as little as 10 minutes. Sakakawea Medical Center Mammography is an ACR accredited facility

• 3D Mammography
  • Low Dose Genius 3D Mammography exams are an advanced type of digital mammogram, otherwise known as digital tomosynthesis, which offers better cancer detection with lower radiation. This enables doctors to more clearly see through overlapping tissue to detect cancers, often at an earlier stage.
  • Large clinical studies in the U.S. and Europe have demonstrated the positive benefits of Low Dose 3D Mammography exams, including:
    • Earlier detection of small breast cancers that may be hidden in a conventional mammogram
    • Greater accuracy in pinpointing size, shape and location of abnormalities
    • Fewer unnecessary biopsies or additional tests
    • Greater likelihood of detecting multiple breast tumors
    • Clearer images of dense breast tissue
  • Exams using this technology are recommended for women of all ages and breast densities. Sakakawea Medical Center Mammography is an ACR accredited facility
• MRI (mobile)

  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures of organs and structures inside the body. In many cases, MRI gives different information about structures in the body than can be seen with an X-ray, ultrasound, or computed tomography (CT) scan. MRI also may show problems that cannot be seen with other imaging methods.

    For an MRI test, the area of the body being studied is placed inside a special machine that contains a strong magnet. Pictures from an MRI scan are digital images that can be saved and stored on a computer for more study.

    Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is done for many reasons. It is used to find problems such as tumors, bleeding, injury, blood vessel diseases, or infection. MRI also may be done to provide more information about a problem seen on an X-ray, ultrasound scan, or CT scan. Contrast material may be used during MRI to show abnormal tissue more clearly.

• Nuclear Medicine Exam (mobile)

  • Nuclear medicine is a branch of medical imaging that uses small amounts of radioactive material to diagnose and determine the severity of or treat a variety of diseases, including many types of cancers, heart disease, gastrointestinal, endocrine, neurological disorders and other abnormalities within the body. Because nuclear medicine procedures are able to pinpoint molecular activity within the body, they offer the potential to identify disease in its earliest stages as well as a patient’s immediate response to therapeutic interventions.

    Nuclear medicine imaging procedures are noninvasive and, with the exception of intravenous injections, are usually painless medical tests that help physicians diagnose and evaluate medical conditions. These imaging scans use radioactive materials called radiopharmaceuticals or radiotracers.

    Depending on the type of nuclear medicine exam, the radiotracer is either injected into the body, swallowed or inhaled as a gas and eventually accumulates in the organ or area of the body being examined. Radioactive emissions from the radiotracer are detected by a special camera or imaging device that produces pictures and provides molecular information.

• Echocardiogram (mobile)

  • An echocardiogram is an ultrasound examination that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart. It uses single dimension images of the heart along with two-dimensional (2D), M-mode, color, and Doppler to display cross sectional “slices” of the beating heart. During the exam, electrodes are attached to the chest and used to produce an electrocardiogram (EKG) that is used to evaluate the timing of various cardiac events like the filling and emptying of the cardiac chambers.

    The Mmode and 2D echo images evaluate the size, thickness, and movement of the heart chambers, valves, etc. Doppler is used to evaluate the flow of blood as it makes its way into and out of the heart. The information is displayed on the ultrasound monitor and is also heard as a series of audible signals with a swishing or pulsating sound.

    • An echocardiogram evaluates the size of the chambers of the heart, including the dimension or volume of the cavity and the thickness of the chamber walls. Echocardiography can identify if the heart is pumping poorly or if one or more isolated areas have reduced movement. The pumping power of the heart will be calculated as the EF (ejection fraction). Echocardiography identifies the structures, thickness, and movement of each heart valve. It can evaluate valves for scarring, calcification, leaking and narrowing.

      For patients in heart failure, an echocardiogram can assess the blood volume that returns from the lower part of the body. Electrocardiograms can also evaluate for congenital heart disease, blood clots or tumors in the heart, infection of heart valves, and abnormal elevation of pressure in the lungs. Echocardiography is useful in the diagnosis of fluid in the pericardium (the sac that surrounds the heart) and can determine when it is severe and potentially life-threatening

• All General Radiography Exams

  • Radiology exams use very small amounts of radiation to produce high quality digital images with the latest digital technology to assist health care providers in diagnosing a variety of medical conditions.

• Interventional Radiology

  • A therapeutic and diagnostic specialty that comprises a wide range of minimally invasive image-guided therapeutic procedures as well as invasive diagnostic imaging. Click here for more information