May 13, 2020 Statement
May 13, 2020
To the ISCD Community:
As we continue to follow the COVID-19 Pandemic and its impact on our members, we are providing additional information and resources to build upon our initial statement regarding DXA during COVID-19 (found below),
ISCD recognizes that many densitometers worldwide have been idled by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that returning to operations may elicit anxiety in staff and patients about safety.
To help preserve optimal machine function during extended lapses in use, manufacturer-specific procedures have been recommended to ISCD and are summarized below:
Hologic: Best practice is to run a daily quality assurance every two weeks. If that’s not possible, perform quality assurance two times every 30 days. Try to avoid leaving the scanner idle for more than two months. (SkeletalHealth.Support@Hologic.com)
GE Healthcare: If a bone densitometry system has been idle for more than one month, recommend performing a warm-up seasoning of the X-Ray tube prior to resuming clinical use. Please contact GE Healthcare for instructions: https://www.gehealthcare.com/corporate/covid-19
Norland:
Run a “Daily Calibration” at least once every two weeks if possible. This will help prevent possible arcing issues. If you are not able to achieve this due to lack of access to building, stay at home orders, etc., suggest running an initial calibration upon return. Instructions for running this initial calibration are found in our operator’s guide which every customer should have access to and if they need additional assistance, they can call technical support line at 1-888-741-0413.
In addition to the above manufacturer- specific procedures, ISCD recommends the following resources to assist in reassuring staff and patients regarding safety of densitometry in the era of COVID-19. We understand that local, state and other jurisdictional guidance and rules may supersede:
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/non-covid-19-client-interaction.html
American College of Radiology: https://www.acr.org/Clinical-Resources/COVID-19-Radiology-Resources
American Society of Radiologic Technologists: https://www.asrt.org/covid19
Radiological Society of North America: https://www.rsna.org/-/media/Files/RSNA/covid-19/RSNA-COVID-19-Surge-Preparedness.pdf
Best wishes,
Dato’ Dr. Joon-Kiong Lee, MBBS, FRCS, MS ORTH, AM, CCD
ISCD President 2020-2021
For the ISCD Executive Committee
