The TechNation Webinar Wednesday series continues to be popular with clinical engineers and HTM professionals everywhere. More than 2,000 people have attended webinars featured in the 2015 series with an average attendance of 329.
The most recent webinar “Improve Your Nuclear Imaging Clinical Care and Business Potential” by Nik Iwaniw, MM, RT, CNMT, provided insightful information about medical imaging devices. The webinar was sponsored by Universal Medical Resources Inc. (UMRi) and attendance was eligible for 0.1 credits from the ICC.
The series continues to receive praise from HTM professionals.
“TechNation webinars go direct to the point with very detailed information, excellent material use by the coordinators,” Jorge J. said in a post-webinar survey.
Iwaniw began with a basic overview of molecular imaging and nuclear imaging. He defined and compared SPECT, X-ray, ultrasound, CT and MRI.
He said SPECT is a safe, painless and cost-effective means of medical imaging that uses very small amounts of radioactive material or radiopharmaceuticals to diagnose and treat disease. There is a multitude of different nuclear medicine imaging procedures available and development of new radiopharmaceuticals that target specific disease continues to fuel the use of these procedures.
SPECT and planar nuclear medicine are used for the treatment of heart disease and cancer. They are also used for diagnosing diseases in organ systems, including liver/gall bladder/GI, lung, kidney, thyroid and brian.
Iwaniw discussed common challenges and approaches to overcome those obstacles. He touched on how to better serve a patient community by aligning the community and its common diseases using epidemiological data. He explored avenues for streamlining clinical care in a nuclear imaging department. Iwaniw said clinical needs and budget issues must be addressed when considering nuclear medicine purchases and upgrades.
Iwaniw shared examples on how to assist medical staff in defining clinical applications for SPECT and non-SPECT nuclear imaging and how to streamline clinical care in a nuclear imaging department for greater throughput. The discussion addressed ways to partner with a nuclear imaging camera provider to maximize clinical operation and business potential.
He also discussed the importance of a collaborative effort between clinical engineering/biomed departments and nuclear medicine departments to make sure imaging equipment and accessories remain functional in order to assist physicians and health care providers in the delivery of effective care.
An informative Q&A session followed the presentation.
Iwaniw is the Vice President of Marketing & Services/Clinical Support Specialist at Universal Medical Resources Inc (UMRi). He received his bachelor’s of science in nuclear medicine technology and a master’s of management from Aquinas College. He was joined by Charles Lovell Jr., CEO of Caldwell Medical Center.
Lovell is participating in a walk to raise awareness about rural health care. To draw attention to rural health care, “The Walk” began in Belhaven, North Carolina, on June 1 and concluded on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on June 15.
To Register for the next free Webinar Wednesday session, visit IAmTechNation.com. Recordings of previous webinars are available on the website.