China–US Remote Imaging Consultation Center

The Keck Medical Center of the University of Southern California in the United States is a highly influential medical institution in the country. Its Department of Imaging has internationally leading technical capabilities; the center’s physicians have extensive clinical experience and a complete range of subspecialties, and can provide imaging consultations for difficult and complex cases involving all parts of the body.

On 2018-09-28, the Department of Radiology of our hospital and the Keck Medical Center of the University of Southern California jointly established the “China–US Remote Imaging Consultation Center,” with the aim of using remote electronic transmission technology to provide patients with a second imaging diagnostic opinion from U.S. imaging experts for difficult cases. This enables patients receiving care at our hospital to obtain imaging consultations and treatment guidance from senior U.S. experts without leaving the country, facilitating access to medical care and enhancing the hospital’s service capabilities.

The center has 21 physicians, including 3 chief physicians, 4 associate chief physicians, 6 attending physicians, 1 PhD holder, and 12 master’s degree holders; 31 technical staff, including 8 supervising technologists; and 5 nurses, including 3 charge nurses.

In addition to routine imaging examinations, the center can also perform defecography, high-definition digital mammography, CT angiography (CTA) of all body regions, CT dual-energy imaging (gout imaging, imaging for differentiating types of kidney stones, dual-energy tumor imaging, pulmonary perfusion imaging, etc.), magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), magnetic resonance urography (MRU), magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), various functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), magnetic resonance perfusion imaging, and dual-energy bone mineral density measurement.

Radiological diagnosis is divided into subspecialty groups for the chest, abdomen, neuro-head-and-neck, musculoskeletal system, and breast. Each group is led by 1 chief or associate chief physician and consists of 3-4 members; the groups are responsible for diagnostic guidance, consultations, and teaching and research in their respective subspecialty areas. Thoracic imaging is overseen by Director Yang Guangzhao, the discipline leader and a renowned imaging expert in Zhejiang Province. He specializes in the diagnosis and interventional treatment of the chest (the lungs, mediastinum, pleura, and heart and great vessels), particularly the diagnosis of pulmonary nodules, CT-guided needle biopsy of thoracic lesions, and radiofrequency ablation of tumors. He enjoys a high reputation both within and outside the province and has attracted large numbers of patients who come because of his reputation.

The center has 3 MR systems (1 each: a Siemens 3.0T MR, a GE 1.5T MR, and a Hitachi 0.3T MR), 5 CT systems (1 each: a Siemens 128-slice dual-source CT and a GE 64-slice CT, plus 3 GE and Siemens 16-slice CT systems), 3 Philips DR systems, 2 Shimadzu DR systems, 3 Carestream mobile DR systems, 1 Hologic DR mammography system, and 1 GE dual-energy bone densitometer. The vast majority of the equipment consists of the latest models updated within the past 4 years, enabling fully digital imaging and a hospital-wide PACS network system, and providing patients with digital imaging services.

Over the past 5 years, the center has undertaken 14 projects at the provincial/ministerial and department/bureau levels; it has published 71 papers in professional journals ranked level II or higher, including 13 in first-tier journals and 6 indexed in SCI, with a highest impact factor of 4.5; it has held national- and provincial-level continuing education courses for 7 consecutive years; and it undertakes imaging-specialty resident training within Zhejiang Province and teaching internships for Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Wenzhou Medical University, Hangzhou Normal University, and Zhejiang Medical College.