FAQ Patient Preparation Information Clermont Radiology LLC. Medical Imaging Center

Avoid wearing lots of cosmetics; perfumes, hair sprays, body piercing's and jewelry, for these may interfere with getting a quality exam.
Keep your valuables at home. You shouldn’t have them on your mind while you are having your exam.
If you are anxious, bring a friend or loved one. They may not be able to be with you during your exam, but just knowing that they are close by in the lobby area will help tremendously.
If you are requesting sedation to ease your fears, you need to have a person with you that can drive you to and from our center.
If you have questions, please ask. We want your experience to be a beneficial and comfortable one. Our technologists and staff are more than willing to help you.
If you are able to eat before your exam, avoid foods and beverages that may make you anxious such as caffeinated beverages, high sugar foods, alcohol, and high-energy bars.

Keep meals ‘lite’ and avoid caffeinated beverages before your appointment.
Take your medications as usual.
Wear comfortable clothing without metal belts, buttons or zippers.
If you had a CT or X-ray exam that required an IV injection or drinking barium, have your Dexa 14 days after the CT or X-ray exam was performed.
If you had a nuclear medicine study, have your Dexa 14 days after the nuclear medicine exam was performed.

This exam uses X-rays to measure the density of you bones. Bone density is important, especially in women as they get older, for low bone density can signal the beginnings of Osteoporosis. It is a simple and effective diagnostic tool. You should avoid taking calcium supplements for 48 hours prior to your Dexa exam. Make sure that you wear loose, comfortable clothing, and avoid clothes that have metal belts, zippers, or buttons. If you have had a CT or X-ray study that required you to drink ‘barium’, or get a CT scan or X-ray exam that required an injection in your vein or you had a nuclear medicine study, wait 14 days to have your Dexa exam performed.

If you need a CT injection, make sure you have had a BUN and creatinine blood test before your appointment date (minimum 48 hours).
Do not eat 4 hours prior to your appointment.
You can take prescribed medications with water 4 hours prior to your appointment.
Arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment.
If you need a CT injection, do you have kidney disease? Let the staff know, for you need blood work a minimum of 48 hours before the CT injection.
If you are 65 years or older, and/or diabetic, you need to have blood work a minimum of 48 hours before the CT injection.

CT, which stands for Computed Tomography, is an advance X-ray technology that uses computers to create high-resolution, detailed images of the body. Exam times can be a few minutes to about 20 minutes, depending on the test your doctor has ordered with most CT exams taking about 10-15 minutes.

Arrive one half hour before your scheduled appointment time. It is important to not eat 4 hours before your test; however, if you are on prescribed medications, and you must take our medications within the 4 hours before your test, you may take the medications with water. If your CT scan is of the abdomen or pelvis, you may be required to drink a substance called barium prior to your CT scan. The technologist will provide this barium drink to you on the same day of the exam, or you may want to stop by the center the day before your exam to take the barium drink home with you so you can begin to drink as directed.

Some CT scans require an injection in a vein in your arm. Your doctor will have already sent you to a laboratory to have some blood tests performed if you are to have this CT injection. The two blood specimen values we like to have before your CT are a B.U.N. and a creatinine, for these test indicate how well your kidneys are functioning. If you have kidney disease of any kind, make sure you notify the front office staff. It is important that you answer questions thoroughly and completely on all forms given to you regarding your medical history.

If you have not had a blood test, let us know as soon as possible, a day or two, before your CT scan appointment. If you are to have a CT with an injection, the technologist will start a small intravenous (IV) prior to your scan once you have entered the CT suite. Once the scan is completed, and the IV is removed, your technologist will give you instructions and you can resume your normal activities such as driving your car and resuming your normal diet within the guidelines as prescribed to you by your doctor.

For Your safety! Pacemakers and other devices may be damaged if in the MRI scanner.
Keep meals ‘lite’ and avoid caffeinated beverages before your appointment.
Take your medications as usual.
Arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment.
If you need a MRI injection, do you have kidney disease? Let the staff know, for you need blood work a minimum of 48 hours before the MRI injection.
If you are 65 years or older, and/or diabetic, you need to have blood work a minimum of 48 hours before the MRI injection.
Relax and hold still during your exam as best as you can.

MRI, or ‘Magnetic Resonance Imaging’, is an advanced imaging technology that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to create detailed images of the tissues (brain, muscles, cartilages, etc.) of the body without the use of X-rays. Exam times can be from 20 minutes to about 45 minutes, depending on the test your doctor has ordered. Some specialized MRI’s can take 50 minutes, but the majority of MRI exams are 20 to 30 minutes.

Because of the great strength of the magnetic field, it is important for each patient to understand that certain medically implanted devices, such as cardiac pacemakers (PPM), automatic internal cardiac defibrillators (AICD), and other various other devices in patients may prohibit you from having an MRI. This is for your safety. If you do have any devices implanted in your body, please notify the front office staff what the device is. Also, you will be given a form that lists many potential devices and medical history questions that may relate to you. It is important that you answer these questions thoroughly and completely.

Arrive one half hour before your scheduled appointment time. Keep meals ‘lite’ before your MRI. We suggest not eating for 1 hour before your exam. Avoid caffeinated beverages a few hours before your exam. If you are on prescribed medications, and you must take your medications any time before your MRI exam, you may take your prescribed medications as needed. Prior to your MRI scan a technologist may ask you to remove jewelry and clothing that is not suitable for the MRI scanner. We have lockers for your possessions and gowns for your comfort and convenience. During the MRI scan, it is important to remain very still and relaxed. This will make your exam go faster, for if you are moving about while in the scanner the technologist may have to retake whole series of pictures if they are blurry from your movements. Do your best to hold still while being scanned.

Some MRI scans require an injection in a vein in your arm with a very small ‘pediatric’ size needle for your comfort. If you have a history of kidney disease there are two blood specimen values we like to have before your MRI and they are a B.U.N. and a creatinine, for these test indicate how well your kidneys are functioning. If you have kidney disease of any kind, make sure you notify the front office staff. It is important that you answer questions thoroughly and completely on all forms given to you regarding your medical history. If you need a MRI injection, the technologist will perform this injection in the middle or end of the timeframe of the exam. Once the scan is completed, your technologist will give you instructions and you can resume your normal activities such as driving your car and resuming your normal diet within the guidelines as prescribed to you by your doctor.

Abdominal and retroperitoneal exams: don’t eat 4-6 hours before your appointment.
Bladder and pelvic exams: drink a minimum of 30 ounces of water starting 1 hour before your appointment time.
Bladder and pelvic exams: avoid urinating 1 hour before your appointment time.
Take your medications as usual, with small sips of water.
Arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment.

Ultrasound is a critical and important diagnostic imaging tool used to diagnosis various illnesses and conditions by using ultrasound waves. It is used to image many major organs and soft tissues of the torso and pelvis, the flow of blood throughout the body, and babies as they are developing in their mother womb. Ultrasound exams take about 10 minutes. If you are having multiple ultrasounds it may take about up to 30 minutes to complete the exams.

Arrive one half hour before your scheduled appointment time. If you are having any of the following: abdominal, pelvic and retroperitoneal (organs behind the abdomen), it is important that you do not eat 4 to 6 hours before your exam. If you need to take prescribed medications before your exam, do so with very small sips of water. Ultrasounds of the bladder and pelvis require that you drink at least 30 ounces of water 1 hour prior to your appointment, and avoid urinating 1 hour prior to your appointment as well. This helps to delineate the bladder from other organs in your body while the technologist is scanning.

During the exam the technologist will use a device called a transducer to take the pictures. These devices come in various shapes and designs to maximize the frequency of the ultrasound waves. A very specialized ultrasound gel is applied to the end of the transducer, and this too optimizes the ultrasound signal. They hold the device in one hand, placing the device on the body part being examined, moving it around to get the best angle to demonstrate the organ or anatomical structures and use their other hand to take the pictures.

Eat or drink as you normally would.
Avoid wearing powders, perfumes, deodorant or antiperspirants.
If you have had a previous mammogram at another facility, please bring the films or reports.
Take your medications as usual.
Arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment.

Mammography is an extremely important tool in the fight for breast cancer. Using ‘soft’ X-rays, the various densities of tissues within the breast are seen on the mammography films so that the radiologist can make a diagnosis or recommend additional imaging to determine if cancer is present.

Eat or drink as you normally do. No special preps are necessary but in order to take high quality images of the breast and chest area please avoid wearing powders, perfumes, deodorant or antiperspirants, for these products may inhibit the clarity of the mammogram. If you have had a previous mammogram at a facility other than Clermont Radiology, please bring your films and/or reports with you.