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KUH IMAGING CENTER

KUH IMAGING CENTER AND DEPARTMENT OF CLINICAL RADIOLOGY

The Imaging Center at Kuopio University Hospital is a modern, digital diagnostic service unit. We do diagnostic examinations and imaging-directed interventions serving all of KUH's specialised health care. Our 225 employees do 220,000 diagnostic examinations, reports or interventional procedures annually. The specialities present are diagnostic and interventional radiology, dental radiology, clinical physiology and nuclear medicine, clinical neurophysiology and pathology.

SAFETY AND SCIENTIFIC AND CLINICAL RESEARCH

We maintain a regional imaging archive and give national education for diagnostic fields. The scientific and clinical research and method development we do is internationally renowned and based on extensive clinical co-operation, the know-how offered by the university and high-quality, modern equipment. We invest in patient safety, and we are the first Nordic hospital to receive the five star Eurosafe radiation safety classification of the European Society of Radiology (ESR) 04/2016. Our patients will always receive the best of care: safely, professionally and on time.

 

CLINICAL RADIOLOGY

Our Unit of Clinical Radiology focuses on radiological diagnostics and interventional radiology. Our modern equipment and experienced staff enable even the most demanding of specialised examinations and interventions. The diverse diagnostic imaging modalities include, for example, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound and conventional X-rays. The results of the imaging examinations are used in diagnostics, treatment decisions and patient follow-up. Imaging is also an important part of the diagnostics of acute conditions out of service hours so we offer 24-hour emergency imaging. Our radiologists have specialised in interventional radiology, neuroradiology, paediatric radiology, breast radiology, musculoskeletal radiology and emergency and trauma radiology.

The imaging cardiologist of our unit is responsible for imaging investigations of the heart. We also participate in interpreting PET/CT-examinations with nuclear medicine specialists. Our interventional radiologists work alongside diagnostics to do, for example, imaging-directed biopsies and treat vascular disorders in versatile endovascular techniques, including percutaneous balloon angioplasties, stenting and embolisation; we are national forerunners for intra-arterial treatments, such as the embolisation of uterine fibroids. Our hospital physicists also participate actively in the maintenance of quality, patient safety and radiation safety. We do active scientific research in the field of radiology, focusing on neuroradiology and the imaging of the heart, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

 

CLINICAL PHYSIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE

The Unit of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine specialises in clinical physiology and nuclear medicine, which study human body functions and their disorders by physiological monitoring and multimodality imaging. The diagnostic methods include, for example, investigations of the functions of the heart and lungs, long-term registrations of blood pressure and ECG, circulatory measurements of the lower limbs and studies that measure the functions of the digestive system.

In addition, we do SPECT/CT and PET/CT investigations of the skeleton, lungs, kidneys, lymphatic system, brain and heart. The results of the studies are used in primary diagnostics, assessment of disease severity/prognosis and planning treatment. We can also give certain radionuclide therapies. We do active research in our field and develop the methodology.  We are the second hospital in Finland to have our own cyclotron (06/2016 onwards) for PET-radionuclide production, which enables even the most demanding imaging investigations of cancer as well as metabolic and neurological diseases.

 

CLINICAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGY

The Unit of Clinical Neurophysiology offers a comphrehensive selection of modern high-quality diagnostic investigations for diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems and for muscular system. They are used in diagnosing various diseases, planning of given treatments, as well as in patient follow-ups. The Unit serves the needs of all specialities at University Hospital level care as well as primary health care. Approximately 40% of our investigations are used by KUH NeuroCenter and Kuopio Epilepsy Center. We have the only 24/7 emergency EEG Service in Finland. Top-level and individually tailored methods are used in Intra Operative Monitoring (IOM) during various demanding neurosurgical and orthopaedic surgeries.

KUH Clinical Neurophysiology works in collaboration with Kuopio Epilepsy Center, which offers national and international (FinnHealth) diagnostics and treatment options for intractable epilepsies. We perform extensive extracranial and intracranial EEG-evaluations (stereo-EEG, subdural strips and grids) for pre-operative evaluation of epilepsy surgery candidates. We have Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) of 4 beds, completed with 2 extra units devoted to various sleep related disorders. We have two top-class MRI-based navigated TMS devices, that are used for e.g., preoperative mapping of eloquent cortical areas, and for neuromodulatory treatments of various diseases and problems such as major depression and severe neuropathic pain.

 

CLINICAL PATHOLOGY

The field of the Department of Clinical Pathology is clinico-pathological diagnostics. We do the diagnostics, treatment follow-up and quality assurance through tissue and cell samples examining and performing autopsies. We examine approximately 30,000 samples from Kuopio University Hospital annually and in addition to samples from regional health care units and units outside the hospital district.

The department’s staff currently consists of eight physicians, two cell biologists and 21 laboratory technicians. The preparation process of tissue and cell samples is automatised. Different kind of stainings, immunohistochemical stainings, DNA in situ –hybridisations and recently also mutation analysis are used to support the diagnostics. We are currently working on digitalising the service similarly to radiology. Slides are scanned and samples are then examined on computer workstations instead of conventional microscopes. This simplifies consultations and facilitates multidisciplinary patient meetings which are at the core of our activities.