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How to Convert X-Rays to Digital Format to attach to
an Email?
X-Rays on a CD in Dicom
or .dcm Format
If you have your x-rays in a digital format on a
CD, then you can convert the DICOM or .DCM images to
.jpg images as follows:
Search the CD for any files having .DCM as the
extension, you could write a search for *.DCM. If that returns
files, then those are the ones that you need.
You can then download and install the little
viewer "Irfanview"
http://www.irfanview.com Also download the plugin for
"DCM" that is available. Now you will have a perfect viewer and
conversion program at your disposal.
Once you have opened the .DCM files from your CD
with Irfanview, you can then save all the .DCM files in the popular
.JPG format. The created .JPG files (named anything that you prefer)
would ideally need to be brought down to a size of around 300Kb or
make the width or height less than 600 pixels. You can use
Irfanview to resize the files or a photo editing program.
If you can't find any DCM files on the CD, then
hopefully some program is present on that CD that actually has a
viewer and conversion ability.
There are different varieties of software. If
yours show a dotted or dashed line around the image, with a small
dotted or dashed square in the bottom right corner, then it is an
earlier DICOM software versions that you have to click on that
square before you could export or save.
Additional Free DICOM
Converters
ABC Amber DICOM Converter
http://www.processtext.com/abcdicom.html
You Convert It - Free media converter
http://www.youconvertit.com/
X-Rays in standard film format
You can take a digital camera with you to the
doctors and just take photos of the x-rays while they are on the
fluorescent viewing box.
You can also take digital photos of the x-ray
film by holding the x-rays up to a window. Put a sheet of
white paper behind the x-ray if it is too bright. Choose a window
where there is no direct sunlight.
The photos should be sized with either the height
or width no greater than about 600 pixels. Use your favorite photo
editor to resize the photos.
Save your photos in a .jpg format and attach to
an email to send to a doctor.
Facts about Operating Room Line -up
Patients often do not put any thought into who will
actually be in the operating room (OR) during their surgery. It may
be surprising to know, that it takes a pretty large staff to perform
even the "simplest" of surgeries:
- Primary Surgeon - The physician who performs your surgery and
is responsible for your overall care.
- Second Surgeon ("Second Scrub") - A physician who "scrubs in"
to assist your primary surgeon.
- Surgical Assistant - A medical practitioner with surgical
training, often employed by the surgeon.
- Surgical Technician - A nurse with surgical training, often
employed by the hospital to assist in the OR.
- Anesthesiologist - The physician who is responsible for your
medical care while you are under anesthesia.
- Nurse Anesthetist - A nurse who assists in administering
anesthesia, usually in the operating room.
- Scrub Nurse - A nurse who "scrubs in" to assist surgeons with
sterile procedures at the operating table.
- Circulating Nurse - The nurse who is responsible for
non-sterile tasks in the operating room.
- Holding Room Nurse - The nurse who receives patients and
prepares them for surgery in the preoperative area.
- Recovery Nurse - The nurse who cares for patients in the
post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) after surgery.
It is important to note that anyone present during a surgery is
noted in the medical record and a patient does have the right to
know who was present and what organization they are associated with.
(Hill, A.J., MD,
PhD. The Patient's Guide to Anesthesia. New York: Kensington, 1999.)
About Anesthesia
Anesthesia can be defined as the loss of normal
sensation or feeling. Anesthesiologists use drugs to produce this
loss of feeling or awareness.
Types of
Anesthesia
- Infiltration - A local
anesthetic is injected directly into the tissue where the
surgery will take place. Many people encounter this technique in
the emergency department, when a doctor injects local anesthetic
before sewing up a cut. The same method can be used for a
variety of minor procedures in the operating room, too. In these
cases, although the injections may be performed by the surgeon
him or herself, an anesthesiologist is often needed to monitor
the patient and to give sedation or other medications that may
be required during the operation.
- Regional Anesthesia -
Local anesthesia is injected around a major nerve bundle. This
anesthetic method produces temporary numbness in a limited area
of the body by blocking nerve impulses from that area. There are
two types of regional anesthesia: peripheral nerve blocks, which
involve a relatively small part of the body, such as an arm or a
foot; and spinals and epidurals, which can involve the entire
lower portion of the body.
"It's important to note that neither local infiltration nor
regional anesthesia puts you to sleep. This means that, using either
of these forms of anesthesia, you can have surgery comfortably while
wide awake."
- General Anesthesia - When
most people think surgery, they picture this type of anesthesia,
in which patients are put temporarily into a deep sleep. In
practice, general anesthesia ranges from the relatively light
levels used during minor surgery to the deepest levels used in
major operations. The defining characteristics of general
anesthesia is that, unlike infiltration and regional anesthesia,
it acts primarily on the brain rather than on the nerves leading
to the brain.
Anesthesia Care Team
The anesthesia care team is made up of an anesthesiologist and a
nurse anesthetist. An anesthesiologist is a physician who has gone
through four years of medical school plus an additional four years
of training in medicine and anesthesia. A certified registered nurse
anesthetist completes two years of nursing school after college plus
two additional years of training in anesthesia. Normally, the nurse
anesthetist stays through the entire surgery to make sure that no
complications occur during the procedure.
(Source: Hill,
A.J., MD, PhD. The Patient's Guide to Anesthesia. New York:
Kensington, 1999.)
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