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El Camino’s imaging lab a first in the nation
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Torrance Mayor Dee Harding gets a hands-on demonstration of the mediacal imaging technology recently installed at El Camino College. Photo by Dwight Ueada |
The El Camino College Radiologic Technology Program is believed to be the first college program in the U.S. to have the Computed Radiography and Picture Archiving and Communication System. This technology allows medical images to be sent electronically across the street or around the world.
Instead of developing a x-ray image on film, images are produced in a digital computerized format.
Diagnostic x-ray images can be beamed to a doctor in Tokyo, San Francisco, London, or wherever a specialist happens to be. Professionals estimate that 50 percent of the medical community will have digital capabilities in the next three to five years.
Patient images can be sent to centers or hospitals in other cities where doctors with high levels of expertise in a specific discipline can analyze the image and make fast and precise decisions regarding patient care. This shortens the time before treatment can be administered and reduces the time before the patient benefits from that treatment. Hopefully this also reduces the time they spend in treatment, reducing healthcare costs and improving the quality of healthcare.
The technology also gives imaging professionals a chance to practice working with the new technology. Kodak has agreed to work with the Radiologic Technology Program at El Camino to provide curriculum, educational materials and technical support, in return for using the facility for training Eastman Kodak personnel and a demonstration site for potential customers.
The technology puts El Camino ahead of many larger medical-imaging departments, which because of time and cost constraints can’t train each employee to make full use of the facilities. Smaller medical centers and independent offices will need to be able to connect to larger facilities to aid their patient diagnosis. El Camino will be able to train its students to meet the changing challenges of the radiology field. The department will be able to offer training, continuing education, retraining and tutorial services to professionals and students.
For more than 30 years, El Camino has been one of the area’s leading training center for radiologic technicians. More than 50 percent of radiologic technicians employed at neighboring medical facilities are graduates of the El Camino program. ER