Deployed medical team uses new digital X-rays
"Prior to the arrival of X-ray machines, we diagnosed broken bones by how tender the area was around the bone," said Dr. (Maj.) Tyler Harris, an orthopedic surgeon with the 366th Expeditionary Medical Group deployed to Southwest Asia from Travis Air Force Base, Calif. "With X-rays we have proof of where exactly the fractures are in the bone, and we can better treat the person, depending on if they have a fracture and where exactly it is."
Compared to the old one-time film development system, the all-digital X-ray system can take and re-take 300 X-ray films per cassette. Films are scanned in two to three minutes. Harris said the process to store, track and catalogue the digital films is also much easier.
Although the majority of digital X-rays are taken to rule out fractures, the new digital X-rays are also critical to Harris' success during surgery.
"We operated on a person with a crushed hand that required fixation of an open finger fracture," Harris said. "Because the digital films can be scanned in two to three minutes, I could make sure that the bones were correctly aligned during surgery quickly."
Digital X-ray machines are now included in the Expeditionary Medical Support basic package sent forward for deployments, according to Harris.
(FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
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