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Advanced Medical Imaging Improves Care

Montefiore Nyack Hospital’s State-of-the-Art Technology Used for Cancer, Heart Disease, and More.

Medical imaging—such as CT scans and MRIs—has dramatically improved the practice of medicine. In some cases it can reduce or eliminate the need for exploratory surgery. “Imaging can make diagnosis more accurate, improve early detection of diseases, help guide procedures and help monitor a patient’s progress,” said Dr. Evan M. Kaminer, Director of Radiology.
Montefiore Nyack Hospital offers patients many types of state-of-the-art medical imaging, to help detect and treat diseases including cancer, heart disease and liver disease. These include:

Cancer

  • Two new CT scanners: “These machines have software that improves detection while giving less radiation to the patient,” Dr. Kaminer said.
  • SPECT-CT: This is a type of nuclear medicine scan where the images (or pictures) from two different types of scans are combined together. “The SPECT-CT helps us identify certain types of tumors and pinpoint them in the body so we can treat them more effectively,” Dr. Kaminer said.
  • 3-D mammogram: Women who come to Montefiore Nyack Hospital for breast screening receive a 3-D mammogram, which takes multiple images, or X-rays, of breast tissue to recreate a 3-dimensional picture of the breast. This type of mammogram is very good for women with dense breasts, which can make it harder for a radiologist reading the mammogram to see the cancer. If a woman is found to have dense breasts on her mammogram, her doctor may also recommend ultrasound screening, which provides additional information on masses or lumps in the breast.

Heart Disease
Montefiore Nyack Hospital has made significant investments in its cardiology program.

  • Cardiac Catheterization Lab: Opened in February 2021, this well-equipped lab performs diagnostic angiograms, stent placements and electrophysiology.
  • CT Coronary Angiography: A noninvasive version of an angiogram which is used to diagnose coronary artery disease.
  • CT Coronary Calcium Scoring: Quick non-invasive test to determine how much calcium is in the coronary arteries, which can help doctors decide if further testing is necessary.“It’s a noninvasive way to get a general idea of how much plaque a person has in their heart, which helps guide treatment decisions,” Dr. Kaminer said.
  • Coronary SPECT/CT: This technology improves on a nuclear stress test, giving higher quality images, especially for overweight patients.
  • Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Echocardiography: An echocardiogram uses sound waves to produce images of the heart. Your doctor can use the images from an echocardiogram to identify heart disease. Contrast-enhanced echocardiography improves image quality, especially in overweight patients, Dr. Kaminer said.
  • Cardiac MRI: The Hospital’s Cardiac MRI program, in collaboration with Montefiore Medical Center, performs advanced MRIs of the heart to assess function, find blockages and assess masses.

Liver Disease
MR and Ultrasound Elastography: Elastography measures liver stiffness, or fibrosis. This new technology can be used with either ultrasound or MRI and is used in place of a liver biopsy, a more invasive test that involves removing a piece of liver tissue for testing.

Fibrosis can be caused by several diseases including alcoholism and a type of fatty liver disease called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). If apatient has elevated liver function tests, theirdoctor willorder an ultrasound first. If that suggests the presence of fat in the liver, the doctor canorder elastography to determine if fibrosis is present.

“We used to think having fat in the liver was benign, but now we know it can go on to cause fibrosis, cirrhosis and even liver cancer,” Dr. Kaminer said. “It’s an increasing problem as obesity rates increase in adults and children.”

Trauma
Montefiore Nyack Hospital’s new Emergency Department is an accredited Level 3 trauma center. This summer, the ED received a new CT scanner. “For trauma patients, time is of the essence. Having a CT scanner in the ED will expedite patient care,” Dr. Kaminer said. 


Same-day appointments are available. We are open seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. To schedule an appointment, call 845-348-SCAN (7226). For more information, please visit the Hospital’s Imaging page at montefiorenyack.org/imaging-services.