After one year of operation, the device has supported over 2,000 patient exams, enabling the growth of orthopaedic services in a region with limited resources.
In its first year of operation, a portable digital X-ray detector installed at the Village of Hope Hospital in Kenya has been used to image more than 2,000 patients, expanding diagnostic capabilities in a region where access to care is limited.
The system, a Reveal 35C detector paired with a portable source, serves three counties—Uasin Gishu, Nandi, and Kakamega—with a combined population of nearly 4 million people. According to Brandy Jeruto, a radiographer at the hospital, the device has been critical in providing care where no other nearby hospitals have a functional X-ray machine.
“Patients in rural or underserved areas have access to fast and high-quality imaging services, while saving money by avoiding travel,” says Jeruto, in a release. “As most people here come from low-income families, this has really reduced travel costs, as most would have been forced to delay care.”
While the system was initially installed to support early identification of tuberculosis, accounting for 30% of exams, its use evolved to meet local clinical needs. Musculoskeletal imaging for upper and lower limbs became the most common application, representing 43% of all X-rays performed.
This shift supported a significant expansion of the hospital’s orthopedic department. “The orthopedic department has really grown because we now run the department 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” says Jeruto, in a release. “We have been able to do 35 orthopaedic surgeries over the past year.”
Improving Workflow and Diagnostic Quality
Clinicians report that the new system has improved both workflow efficiency and diagnostic confidence compared to the hospital’s previous equipment.
“The previous system was fixed, so positioning the patient was difficult. Image clarity was not very good, so we could end up requesting CT scans—which were not available in the hospital,” says Dr Methuselah Korir, a trauma surgeon who supports the hospital, in a release. “They had to be transferred to another facility so we could clearly determine what kind of injury they had and then plan the surgery accurately. But transporting patients is a problem on its own, especially if you have trauma patients.”
With the portable digital system, the process is streamlined. “We get our images very fast, and we can get any view we want. The image quality and clarity are very good,” says Korir, in a release. “Once you have the soft tissue and the bone, you can diagnose subtle pathology that you couldn’t detect with standard X-rays.”
The project was supported by KA Imaging and the Kenyan Kids Foundation Canada.
“Kenyan Kids Foundation Canada, which raised the funds for this project, is delighted that the Reveal 35C system has performed so well and enabled the Village of Hope Hospital to provide high-quality X-ray images to thousands of patients in the first year of operation,” says Blair McKay, Kenyan Kids Foundation Canada chair, in a release.
Photo caption: Brandy Jeruto with the Reveal 35C detector
Photo provided: KA Imaging
