Benefits of Virtual Examinations - Virtual Imaging Atlanta

In the earliest days of medicine, doctors would use their hands and rudimentary tools to perform physical examinations of the patients they treated. A doctor might press on a patient’s belly to diagnose appendicitis before performing surgery, for example, or use an x-ray to detect a heart problem or cancer. A patient might undergo colonoscopy as a screening for colon cancer. In some cases, doctors would have to perform exploratory surgery to determine the cause of a patient’s illness.

Doctors still use many of the traditional physical examinations to diagnose patients, but many clinicians are utilizing virtual examinations, also known as body scans. Virtual examinations provide a number of benefits, both for the patients and for their doctors.

Benefits of Virtual Examinations Through Medical Imaging

Virtual examinations through medical imaging help doctors detect, diagnose, and treat illnesses early when many illnesses are at their most treatable stages. In this way, virtual examinations save lives and improve the quality of those lives.

Since medical imaging catches illnesses early, virtual examinations can reduce healthcare costs. Treating plaque in the arteries with lifestyle changes and medicine is less expensive than treating heart attacks, for example. Cardiac computed tomography (CT) for Calcium Scoring creates images of the patient’s coronary arteries to help doctors determine if the patient has atherosclerosis or coronary artery disease (CAD), which can lead to heart attacks.

The latest generation of diagnostic CT technology, such as the EBCT C300 scanner, performs high-speed, high-volume imaging using very low radiation to create images of the heart, vessels, and all organs in the torso. Virtual examinations allow clinicians to see heart and vascular disease, colon cancers, lung cancer, other cancers, and abnormalities that are preventable and curable when detected early.

Virtual examinations can improve the overall quality of healthcare. Medical imaging gives doctors and other health professionals the tools they need to make accurate diagnoses. Virtual examinations also provide a way for doctors to evaluate patients’ responses to treatment.

One major advantage is the shareable nature of digital imaging — doctors can share imaging results with specialists and other members of the patient’s healthcare team. Virtual examinations and full-body scans help every member of the team stay up-to-date on a patient’s condition.

Patients prefer virtual examinations because they are non-invasive, painless, and most modern medical imaging tests require very little preparation. Medical imaging helps patients avoid or limit invasive inpatient procedures and return to their normal lives more quickly than ever before. Virtual examinations have all but eliminated the need for exploratory surgery. Patients also appreciate the detailed information virtual examinations provide.

Today’s medical imaging has several advantages over older technologies. For more information about the benefits of virtual examinations, talk to your doctor or other healthcare professional. Make an appointment today with Virtual Imaging, Inc. Imaging Center at 770-730-0119.