Public hospitals are now equipped with state-of-the-art mobile radiography machines that offer flexibility in examining patients who cannot be taken to the radiology department, the state health services organisation (Okypy) announced on Tuesday.

The 10 mobile digital radiography machines, with a total cost of €1m, are part of Okypy’s goal for constant upgrade and improvement of the services offered to patients.

Though the new machines provide a medical image of high diagnostic value and importance, the patient receives a 30per cent to 50 per cent reduced dose of radiation compared to previous technology, Okypy said.

Because they are mobile units, the machines can be used to examine patients wherever they are located.

They can also store the tests in the PACS digital system developed by the Okypy Department of Medical Physics for the archiving and distribution of images such as X-rays, MRI and CT scans and ultrasounds, which received a Silver Award at the Cyprus Healthcare Business Awards 2021 in the Service Quality category.

“This allows medical physicists to continue to study and evaluate the diagnostic image, but also the radiation dose received by patients, aiming to improve the diagnostic image while reducing the radiation dose, something which is quite tasking and difficult, but possible,” it added.

For the best possible and proper use of the machines, the Department of Medical Physics in collaboration with the radiologic technologists, created different examination protocols depending not only on the clinical needs, but also on the patient’s body type and age.

For example, Okypy said, special examination protocols were developed in the system delivered to Makarios children’s hospital, thus further reducing the radiation dose at which newborns and young children are examined