Department of diagnostic radiology
The Department of Diagnostic Radiology focuses on detection and staging of cancers at various sites, on monitoring the body’s response to a current treatment and on early identification of a recurrence of a cancer by using the methods and techniques of diagnostic radiology.
The specialists of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology of the N.N. Petrov National Medical Research Center of oncology perform comprehensive examinations of patients – a multimodal approach improves detection of a neoplastic process or, oftentimes, allows a doctor to rule out a neoplastic process completely. The capabilities of the Department ensure that a correct diagnosis will be made or, in many cases, an erroneous diagnosis will be discarded. There is a number of screening techniques that help to specify the diagnosis in difficult cases.
The Department offers its services not only to patients with histologically verified malignant neoplasms, but also to patients with pre-cancerous conditions or with suspected cancers. A comprehensive examination of a patient using the cutting-edge techniques and high-precision equipment provides doctors with exhaustive information on all body systems of a patient.
Type of imaging techniques
- An X-ray examination is a traditional diagnostic tool, used in all fields of medicine, including oncology. The Center has one of the best digital X-ray machines that produces images of the highest quality.
X-ray techniques include:
- radiography (including panoramic radiography and tomosynthesis)
- fluoroscopy
- mammography. - Computed tomography (CT) is a non-invasive imaging modality that uses computer-processed combinations of multiple X-ray measurements of thin cross-sectional ‘slices’ of a human body, allowing to identify even smallest lesions. CT is the one of the main diagnostic tools in oncology. The Center has developed its own unique CT diagnostic procedures that allow to dramatically improve diagnostic accuracy for cancer.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique that yields a vast amount of information and uses a magnetic field to produce pictures of soft tissues with some information on their function. The Centre has one of the most advanced MRI machines that allows to obtain the most detailed information on any neoplastic process.
- Ultrasound is the most affordable, safest, quickest and, at the same time, a very effective medical imaging technique that uses the ability of sound waves to reflect from various structures of a body. The Center has extensive experience of using specialized ultrasound techniques, such as Doppler ultrasonography, sonoelastography and ultrasound contrast imaging, to screen cancer and to identify the characteristics of a neoplastic process.
The Department is headed by Dr Lev N. Shevkunov, who has a PhD in Medicine and is a radiologist.