Image source: Fujifilm Healthcare Europe

Taking medical imaging to remote and rural locations with Fujifilm Healthcare

Medical imaging is critical across many fields of healthcare – from oncology to orthopaedics – but accessing it in remote or rural locations can often be a struggle, resulting in missed appointments or delayed diagnoses. Fujifilm Healthcare Europe is a leading provider of medical imaging solutions across all modalities, and offers a range of portable imaging systems – including the FDR nano mobile and FDR Xair portable X-ray systems, plus the iViz wireless™ ultrasound – that allow imaging solutions to be taken closer to the patient.

Medical imaging – whether in an emergency or as part of a routine patient assessment – typically takes place in a hospital, usually in a dedicated radiology department. Unfortunately, attending these settings is not always practicable for patients in remote and rural locations. For example, on remote islands – such as the Western Isles of Scotland – patients often have to travel to the mainland to receive imaging, taking up valuable time and incurring significant expense. In many rural populations, these residents often play critical roles in the community, making their absence to attend hospital even more challenging. Likewise, patients on ships at sea may be days away from the nearest port, delaying access to medical imaging. In many cases, taking imaging equipment into these settings or communities offers a lifeline, helping to address the health inequality often seen in remote and rural areas while enabling individual patients to receive more efficient diagnosis of medical issues.

Recent advances in ultrasound systems have made the technology more accessible to a wider range of para-medical individuals who share with physicians the direct responsibility for patient care, making it a particularly valuable imaging tool in remote settings.

Thanks to these developments, it is now regularly used in many medical disciplines, and is no longer considered the sole purview of expert sonographers and radiologists. For example, the iViz wireless ultrasound is an easy to use, pocket-size system – the size of a mobile phone – making it a useful diagnostic aid to clinicians working in remote locations.

Clinical applications of portable ultrasound imaging

Image source: Fujifilm Healthcare Europe

FDR nano is smaller, lighter and more manoeuvrable than traditional mobile X-ray systems

Although X-ray imaging still requires a trained specialist (usually a Radiographer), the advent of ultra-portable and light-weight mobile systems allow the technology to go to the patient, rather than requiring a scheduled visit to the X-ray department at a hospital.

The FDR nano X-ray machine is smaller and lighter than standard ‘mobile’ systems, making it perfect for community health clinics that have access to a radiographer, but may not have space for a dedicated X-ray suite, and need to move equipment between rooms.

Image source: Fujifilm Healthcare Europe

FDR Xair provides X-ray imaging outside of hospital

When even accessing a clinic is too difficult, the FDR Xair is ultra-portable, and can be used in pop-up health centres, or taken directly into patients’ homes or care facilities by the radiographer. This system even has a built-in lithium polymer battery, and so can be used in environments where there is no electricity, such as natural disaster sites. The system’s supporting software is also equipped with artificial intelligence features to provide additional assistance to clinicians when a radiologist may not be immediately available for diagnostic support.

Fujifilm is delighted to support the important work of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Faculty of Remote, Rural and Humanitarian Healthcare on behalf of people living in remote and rural areas. All patients should be able to access high quality healthcare, wherever they live, and we are pleased that our imaging technologies can help to achieve this goal. Our mobile and portable solutions make medical imaging more accessible to patients who struggle to attend traditional healthcare settings, and we look forward to working with FRRHH to bring the technology to new locations.

Visit the Fujifilm Healthcare Europe website for more information on the iViz wireless, FDR nano and FDR Xair.

™ indicates a trade mark of Fujifilm Healthcare Corporation, Japan.

Source: Fujifilm Healthcare Europe

25.11.2022