The new “Thyroid Uptake System” is getting “glowing” reviews from staff and patients!
Medical Imaging at Sault Area Hospital never stops. They run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The team at Sault Area Hospital performs over 100,000 imaging exams each year!
When most people think of imaging, they think of ultrasound, x-ray, or even MRI – but Sault Area Hospital has specialty imaging areas too! One of our specialized imaging areas is Nuclear Medicine, or “NucMed”.
NucMed uses tiny amounts of radioactive material to “light up” areas of the body and see how they are working. The NucMed team provides a variety of exams to Sault Area Hospital patients. Some common tests include cardiac stress tests, which check for blocked arteries in the heart, and bone scans, to help find or track bone disease.
The Thyroid Uptake System is an important piece of equipment in NucMed that needed to be replaced this year. The thyroid (in your neck) makes hormones that help control many of the body’s functions. This equipment helps us to see how fast or slow a thyroid is working. A thyroid scan can be used to provide a diagnosis for hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) and hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).
Testing a thyroid takes two steps. First, patients take a pill with a small amount of radioactive iodine. Over the next 24 hours, the iodine goes through the body, and helps to show how well the thyroid is working. Over 24 hours, the iodine will set, then the patient has to return to have the scan.
During this scan, the equipment sits over a patients’ thigh and neck. The scan shows how much of the iodine pill was absorbed by the thyroid. This helps determine how fast or slow the thyroid is working. Sault Area Hospital has the only system of its kind in the Algoma District. That means without the support of donors, patients would have to travel for this care!
Safety First
Working with radioactive material comes with many safety precautions. The team in NucMed runs weekly tests where they wipe surfaces in the department to test for contamination. The Thyroid Uptake System has an integrated well counter that will test these samples to ensure staff and patients stay safe.
We also use the Thyroid Uptake System to test the staff who work with these radioactive materials! They need to have a thyroid scan too, but theirs happens 48 hours after administering this radioactive material. Donor support keeps our medical technologists safe!
Without these critical safety features, it wouldn’t be possible to offer NucMed at Sault Area Hospital. Your gifts help us preserve specialty services – like this – for everyone in Algoma who needs them.
"The Thyroid Uptake System plays an important role in measuring radioactive contamination. This new, reliable equipment provides reassurance for accuracy. Thanks to our donors, we can continue to provide care in a healthy and safe environment for patients and staff." - Franci Rogers, Manager - Medical Imaging
The Thyroid Uptake System was funded by The Lukenda Foundation, and is one of many items that keeps our hospital safe!
Local support ensures patients can get care close to home.
Comments