Arkansas Children’s Northwest One of the First in the Nation to Provide Remote Cardiac Imaging

Arkansas Children's pediatric and adult congenital heart disease patients in the northwest corner of the state who need MRI and CT scans now have the option of care closer to home.  

Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW) in Springdale deployed the Radiology Operations Command Center (ROCC) July 1, one of the first hospitals in the country to enable remote control of cardiac MRI and CT scans. Markus S. Renno, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, FSCMR, cardiologist and director of advanced cardiovascular imaging at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) and associate professor of pediatrics and radiology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, leads the innovative effort.  

“We are in a relatively rural state with a relatively underserved population. And for me, the mission of taking care of people who need help and expert care was critical,” Dr. Renno said. “I spent the last six years building up our program at ACH. It’s the first step at making cardiac MRI and CT for congenital heart patients accessible.” 

A cardiac MRI is a noninvasive scan that creates images of the heart and blood vessels through radio waves and a magnetic field. It can detect a variety of heart conditions, such as heart disease, aneurysms and cardiomyopathy. A cardiac CT scan uses X-rays to create images of the heart and blood vessels. It can help diagnose several cardiac issues, including heart disease, identify artery narrowing or blockages and assess heart pumping function. A medical expert determines which imaging technique to use based on the patient’s needs. 

The ROCC system is manufactured by Phillips, and includes an intuitive user interface, private and secure architecture and multi-vendor connectivity. 

Advanced imaging technologies for congenital heart disease patients are the most complicated scans for technologists. Because of this complexity, the imaging doctor directly observes and helps perform the scan for at least half of the studies. 

“Because it’s so complicated, we have not been able to offer these imaging services anywhere other than ACH. Now, we offer one cardiac MRI per week by combining the ROCC with our Little Rock cardiac technologists and our ACNW scanners and team partners. In mid-August, we began offering unlimited cardiac CTs per week,” Renno said in July. “There is a ton of demand.”  

Renno said this remote system is revolutionizing cardiology care and will extend throughout the Arkansas Children’s Health System and beyond. 

“I hope to use this model of care to deliver this highly specialized service in other places across Arkansas and beyond over the next several years, partnering with other community hospitals to do the same,” Renno said.