Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Installs New 3D Full Body Imaging System with Low Dose Radiation in Its Children’s Orthopaedic Center
CHLA is the only pediatric facility in Los Angeles County to offer
the new technology, which offers detailed 3D imaging and uses up to 90
percent less radiation than standard X-Ray machines
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Children’s Hospital Los Angeles announces the availability of the EOS
Imaging System, the first technology capable of providing head-to-toe
images of patients in both 2D and 3D while using up to 90 percent less
radiation than X-rays.
“This new state-of-the-art technology will be of great benefit to the
pediatric patients we treat, especially those with spinal conditions
like scoliosis that require frequent imaging,” says David L. Skaggs, MD,
MMM, chief of Orthopaedic Surgery and director of Spine Surgery at
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Frontal and profile radiographs are acquired in a single step as the
patient stands or sits in the EOS machine. If a full-body radiograph of
the entire body is unnecessary, the EOS scan can be targeted to a single
anatomical area such as the vertebral column or the leg. The image is
acquired by way of a simultaneous body scan using two very fine X-ray
beams, with a whole-body scan taking less than 20 seconds to complete.
The two resulting low-dose digital images are processed by EOS’s
proprietary software to generate a 3D composite image of a patient’s
entire skeleton (or part of the body, such as the spine or lower limbs).
“EOS promotes a safer and more precise approach to pediatric care. Not
only will patients be exposed to a significantly reduced dose of
radiation, but the full body 3D imaging capabilities of EOS will allow
our team of specialists to make more accurate diagnoses and more
informed treatment and surgical plans,” Skaggs says.
Aracely Rainey and her son Zayden, 5, make frequent trips to CHLA from
their Yuma, Arizona home. “We were going to the Phoenix hospital and we
weren’t getting the results that we are getting here,” Aracely says.
Since birth, Zayden, who has severe scoliosis, has endured multiple
surgeries for his condition. As a result, Zayden had always been
apprehensive about going to see the doctor. But after having a magnetic
“Magec” rod surgery, doctor visits are a breeze. The Magec rod is a
revolutionary procedure in treating pediatric scoliosis patients to
reduce the number of surgeries needed to treat curvature of the spine.
Initially, the rod is surgically implanted in the patient’s back.
Additional surgeries, sometimes twice a year, used to be the norm with
scoliosis patients as they grew. But the Magec rod system allows the
spine to be lengthened by using a non-invasive magnetic device on the
patient’s back. Now when Zayden comes to CHLA, he has a painless
experience of correcting his spinal curvature and becoming taller
without surgery.
Once Zayden has a Magec rod lengthening, which takes less than two
minutes, he gets his spine X-rayed by CHLA’s new low-dose radiation EOS
imaging system. Nothing could please his mother more, especially knowing
that her son is being exposed to a drastically lower dose of radiation
each time he is X-rayed.
“I want to be careful for him so that he can live a healthy life,” says
Aracely of Zayden, who gets four X-rays a year and will continue to need
frequent imaging until his early 20s when he is fully-grown. “If I have
to have my son go through radiation, and now I am putting him through
less radiation — it’s a blessing.”
The Children’s Orthopaedic Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
provides the most comprehensive pediatric orthopaedic care in the
western United States. Its team of surgeons, nurses, rehabilitation
experts, physical therapists, biomedical engineers and numerous other
collaborating support staff specializes in every ailment associated with
orthopaedics including fractures, injuries, spine disorders,
neuromuscular weakness, tumors, and hip, hand and joint abnormalities.
The program is ranked among the top ten pediatric orthopaedic programs
in the country by U.S. News & World Report. It speaks to CHLA’s
reputation and vigilance in preventing surgical complications, as well
as the use of the most advanced and safest technologies to provide
expert care to the patients it serves from the local community and from
around the world.
The EOS system was developed from Nobel Prize-winning technology and has
been shown to be appropriate for a range of musculoskeletal conditions,
including those involving the hips, knees and spine. For more
information about imaging with the EOS system, please visit www.CHLA.org/EOS,
or www.eosimaging.com.
About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children’s
hospital in California and among the top 10 in the nation for clinical
excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World
Report Honor Roll. Children’s Hospital is home to The Saban Research
Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research
facilities in the United States. Children’s Hospital is also one of
America’s premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932
with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern
California.
For more information, visit www.CHLA.org.
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Contacts
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Monica Rizzo
(323) 361-5745
mrizzo@chla.usc.edu
