UPDATED JUNE 8, 2020
Advances in medicine come fast and furious. Each day brings the announcement of a promising new gene therapy for cancer or a successful surgical procedure that was unimaginable just a few years ago. Some of the most dynamic medical advances in recent years have come in the field of medical imaging, which has many tech enthusiasts taking a fresh look at radiologic technologist degree programs.
One of the advances in radiology literally brings medical imaging into a new dimension. Working with video game company Bencin Studios, Dr. Jesse Courtier, M.D. – an assistant professor at University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine – has developed software that creates interactive 3D holograms of internal structures.
The application, Radiology with Holographic Augmentation or RadHA for short, allows doctors to assess a patient’s needs to see for themselves in three dimensions the positions and nature of the structures they’re assessing, rather than having to infer what’s going on from a flat image.
The technology also allows the user to manipulate the image, rotating it and peeling back layers or replacing them when necessary. A surgeon assessing a liver mass can see from any angle where the mass sits and how it interacts with other important structures like arteries and organs.
Other exciting recent technological advances in medical imaging include new methods for performing MRI scans during surgery and methods for monitoring the doses of radiation therapy administered to cancer patients.
The Role of a Radiologic Technologist
As you might have guessed, it’s usually not up to doctors to perform and display the imaging. This responsibility falls to tech-savvy professionals, such as radiologic technologists, to make sure busy doctors get the information they need to produce the best outcomes for their patients.
As a result, it’s not surprising that the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that hiring for radiologic technologists will significantly outpace the national average over the next decade.
Become a Rad Tech at CUKC
CUKC is a nonprofit, private, healthcare-focused university where students become part of and learn from the professional health care culture.
The Radiologic Technology degree program at Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC) is an accelerated 2-year program providing focused 8-week evening courses on campus.
Students receive hands-on training on campus and at partner clinics throughout greater Kansas City and surrounding communities. The CUKC program prepares graduates of this Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree to become certified and registered to perform diagnostic imaging.
To learn more about the CUKC radiologic technologist degree program, request more information and click here to get your free eBook: Your Complete Guide to a Career as a Radiologic technologist.
