RIS-Based Data Details Imaging at the London 2012 Olympics

An infographic illustrates how radiology equipment was used to diagnose athletes’ injuries at the London 2012 Olympic Polyclinic.

Radiology plays a crucial role in sports medicine, as it facilitates the accurate diagnosis and treatment of injuries. GE Healthcare (Chalfont St. Giles, UK) has created an infographic based on data captured by its Centricity radiology information system (RIS) at the London 2012 Polyclinic medical facility. The data depict which imaging modalities were most widely used, and highlight the areas of the body most frequently scanned in order to help inform decisions for the Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 2016 facility.

The Polyclinic was a state-of-the-art hospital built at the London Olympic site that was tailored for the medical needs of over 22,000 competing Olympic and Paralympic athletes and team officials. Similar to earlier Olympic Games since 2006, GE Healthcare provided the imaging technology that enabled the Polyclinic radiologists and physicians to diagnose and plan medical treatments, helping increase the chances of injured athletes to get back in competitive shape, and where possible giving them the confidence to do so.

Finn Crotty, the Olympics project lead for GE Healthcare, explained, “From the outset, one of our aims was to collect detailed data from the London 2012 Polyclinic, to enable the Rio 2016 team to make more informed decisions about technology needs. Our experiences at Beijing [China] told us we needed a CT [computed tomography] scanner onsite this time around. CT imaging enabled diagnosing of trauma and guiding therapy. The data tell us that CTs comprised 5% of the total scans performed at the Polyclinic.”

Data were also gathered on which areas of the body were most frequently scanned. Sports imaging typically has a high degree of “extremity” injuries, especially lower extremities such as knees and ankle joints, highlighted in the anatomy graphic. The information helps indicate the number of scans that could be completed on an extremities-specific MRI scanner, which would help manage the extremely high demand for MRI imaging. Mr. Crotty continued, “As we continue our analysis of the Polyclinic data, other insights will emerge which we will pass on to the Rio team to help them deliver an even better polyclinic in 2016.”

Dr. Phil O’Connor, imaging lead at the London 2012 Olympics Polyclinic, recounted his London 2012 experiences, said, “The success and high usage of the Polyclinic was to a large extent down to speed and accuracy of diagnosis that the imaging equipment allowed, which gave country medical teams a lot more confidence in the ability of the Polyclinic to get their athletes safely and quickly back to the starting blocks after a twinge or an injury.”

Dr. Richard Budgett, chief medical officer for London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, clarified, “London 2012 was the 12th Olympic Games I have worked at. Team doctors and the International Olympic Committee Medical Commission felt that the Polyclinic facilities here were the best ever, largely as a result of the state-of-the-art imaging service provided. The team at GE Healthcare played a vital role in enabling the staff at the Polyclinic to provide a comprehensive and reliable service to injured athletes. As a past chief medical officer for Team GB, I know how important it is to have immediate access to comprehensive imaging of the highest quality, conveniently located within the Polyclinic. Thanks to GE Healthcare’s know-how, technology, and technical support, this was delivered.”

The primary challenges of cardiac imaging--calcium blooming, coronary motion, plaque composition, and accurate myocardial perfusion--will now be addressed in Canada following Health Canada’s clearance of GE’s Discovery CT750 HD FREEdom Edition.

The CT system provides both high image quality and multiple dose reduction features on one platform. ASiR (adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction) dose reduction technology is a reconstruction technology that may enable reduction in pixel noise standard deviation. The ASiR reconstruction algorithm may allow for reduced mA in the acquisition of diagnostic images, thus decreasing the dose required. Moreover, with high-definition image quality across anatomies--the Discovery CT750 HD can reach any part of the body of virtually any patient, and perform both specialized and generalized clinical applications, including: Gemstone spectral imaging, which quantitative dual-energy CT. Cardiac imaging with very high spatial resolution at 18.2 lp/cm².

In neuroimaging applications, the Discovery CT750 HD provides ample coverage to perform perfusion studies of the entire brain.

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