Radiology

The department provides services in conventional radiographic and ultrasound scanning. Plans for introduction of MRI are in progress.

Radiation Protection

The ALARA principle of keeping radiation as low as reasonably achievable is applied. Fast screens/film combination reduces the amount radiation required to produce x-ray image. Shield the gonads whenever possible. Lead rubber aprons are given to anybody who must stay in the radiation room Internationally recognized radiation warning signs are used on all examination room doors The designs of rooms are in compliance with Radiation Protection Board

Regulations/Standards Regular preventive maintenance and calibration of machines is done The department is moving towards a fully digital system, which is associated with very low doses of radiation exposure   X-rays in Pregnancy Observation of the 10-day rule for female patients within the childbearing age Whenever an x-ray test has to be performed on a pregnant patient, adequate abdominal shielding is

provided and the ALARA principle above applied.   Angiography

Angiography is the study of blood circulation to various body organs i.e. brain, limbs, kidneys etc by use of dye injected via a catheter inserted through an artery, common site being femoral.

The angiography unit performs whole body digital subtraction angiography examinations. The images are of high quality and thus enable diagnosis to be made more accurately and easily.  Examinations are done by appointment Patients may either be admitted 1day before or one day after the examination or Come through A&E department or day surgery unit In-patients from other hospitals are also booked. Pre and Post-op observations must be adhered to.   Ultrasonography

We have two rooms dedicated for ultrasonography. Highly trained radiologists provide services in abdominal visceral, pelvic, obstetric, intracavity and doppler studies for body regions and organs.

The department has one mobile ultrasound machine allowing for ultra sound exams in the wards for patients who are critically ill.

Specialities

Digital subtraction angiography CT myelograms Arthrograms Vasograms and HSGs Dental CTs Doppler studies Bone mineral density Gastro intestinal studies Uro-genital studies CT pelvimetry Perfusion CT CT angiography with 3D   Machines available 2 CT-scanner machines 2 Ultrasound machines 1 General screening unit with over and under couch x-ray tubes and vertical bucky 1 General x-ray unit with tomographic attachment. 1 specialised screening DSA unit with overcouch tube 1 General x-ray unit with a vertical bucky 1 Accident and Emergency x-ray unit with a ceiling suspended tube column Darkroom – 4 machines Dry Laser printers – 2 C-arm in operating theatres 3 mobile x-ray units   Spiral CT Scanner

The Nairobi Hospital has a modern spiral CT scanner. The scanner (Siemens Somatom Emotion) is the only one of its kind in the region. The machine has no match in the speed of data acquisition and reconstruction.

The scanner is installed in the Accident & Emergency department in a well-furnished customer friendly room. The scanner is in the slim gantry family whose principal feature are smaller sizes of machines. This makes the machine less imposing on patients and is of great value in claustrophobic patients and children. Its fast data acquisition speeds are conducive for trauma and emergency radiology, children and very ill patients.

An abdominal CT is done in one breath hold of approximately 30second. Non-spiral head scan takes approximately 2 minutes.

The special features of this unique piece of technology include: A wizard workstation in The Chief Radiologist’s office. Doctors can discuss their patients’ scans with the radiologist without the films Sub-second spiral scanning. The scanning time is as little as 0.8seconds and a turbo reconstruction of 2 seconds. This rapid data acquisition has tremendous advantages in scanning trauma, intensive care and other categories of restless patients. 3D surface shaded Display with real-time rotation. CT Angiography with an injector pump Dental CT Remote fault diagnosis Dicom compatibility Osteo CT (Bone density scanning) Remote gantry tilt (30 degrees) Table adaptable to use of a C-arm Simple to operate software based on Windows NT platform Potential to load more soft wares eg Virtual Endoscoy, perfusion CT etc Upgradability to multislice CT Whole body scanning for trauma evaluation Less Radiation dose due to improved detector technology   Hours and Services provided Booked procedures are done between 8.00am-4.00pm on weekdays and on Saturdays between 8am-1.00pm. From 1pm Saturday- Monday 8.00am the department is open for emergency work only From 7.00pm – 8.00am every day the department is also open for emergency procedures.   Work schedule is carried out in the following order of priority: Emergencies Booked procedures First come first served