Training Saudis on advanced radiology and imaging devices

Reducing waiting time for visitors at King Saud University Medical City

The Medical City at King Saud University in Riyadh adopted its strategic plan for the Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, aiming to upgrade performance by securing the latest equipment and qualifying national cadres to operate the devices.

Dr. Fahd bin Badr Al-Badr, head of the Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging at the College of Medicine and University Hospitals at King Saud University, explained that the plan prioritized empowering Saudi human resources to handle modern technologies in radiology and medical imaging through training programs to adapt to the modern technical environment.

These programs began with the introduction of the (CITRIX) system, which allows doctors to view radiological examinations while outside the hospital, thus enabling consultation with senior specialists during shifts to read radiology images remotely, especially in the radiology, orthopedics, and neurosurgery departments.

Al-Badr pointed out that nearly 90 technical and specialized professionals received training courses in English, CT scans, anatomy programs, and others for diagnosing and examining gastrointestinal and liver diseases in the MRI unit.

He mentioned that the Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging at King Khalid University Hospital features modern and advanced devices serving the diagnostic medical field, focusing on breast tumor screening and detection, osteoporosis screening, detection and monitoring, advanced therapeutic catheterization, cardiac imaging, and imaging of nervous system diseases, including the infrastructure of medical technologies and equipment provided at the hospital as part of its strategic plan, through the installation of MRI scanners with 1.5 Tesla and 3 Tesla strength, enabling cardiac magnetic imaging and advanced neuroimaging for seizures.

Al-Badr indicated that the presence of 4 gamma cameras for nuclear medicine in the department reduced the waiting list for visitors from 6 months to two weeks, and that the installation of two SPECT-CT devices helped in accurate diagnosis of tumor cases in nuclear medicine, in addition to a new CT scanner installed in the Emergency Department for urgent and emergency cases, which reduced the waiting time for emergency patients to undergo examination from two hours to 20 minutes.

He reported that a portable (mobile) CT scanner was put into operation for emergency and intensive care cases to facilitate examinations for visitors and inpatients in their wards, especially for critical and intensive care cases.