An increased demand for vascular ultrasound technologists and interventional technologists parallels an increase in the number of peripheral vascular disease cases and minimally invasive procedures.
An increased demand for vascular ultrasound technologists and interventional technologists parallels an increase in the number of peripheral vascular disease cases and minimally invasive procedures. It could also signal a growing turf battle among radiologists, cardiologists, and vascular surgeons.
In 2003, the demand for ultrasound/vascular technologists at Med Travelers, a temporary staffing agency based in Irving, TX, was 11%. Just three years later, that figure rose to 22%. Even more dramatic was an increase in the need for interventional techs, going from 1% in 2003 to 19% last year. All the while, the demand for x-ray techs has dropped, decreasing from 29% in 2003 to 13% last year.
"There has been increasing interest in the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral vascular disease," said Dr. Mario J. Garcia, director of noninvasive cardiology at the Cardiovascular Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital, NY.
Garcia noted several trends that contribute to the increased interest in PVD:
It's the last trend that leads Dr. Levon Nazarian, an associate professor of radiology at Thomas Jefferson University, to label the widespread interest in PVD as a turf battle. Peripheral interventions traditionally have been done by radiologists. But now more cardiologists and vascular surgeons are creating their own vascular labs, and performing the imaging and interventions, Nazarian said.
"As imaging looks more attractive to support one's income, it comes down to turf," he said. "I'd be surprised if it weren't the primary reason for the increased demand for vascular and interventional techs."
Few technical barriers exist to doing vascular ultrasound. Many ultrasound machines can be retooled to perform vascular studies, and echocardiography techs can be cross-trained to perform vascular studies. A lab needs only one vascular tech to be accredited, according to Larry D. Waldroup, a registered technologist and manager of the Jefferson Ultrasound Research and Education Institute.
While vascular ultrasound may be the first imaging test for peripheral vascular disease, patients generally go on to have CT scans. A complete vascular study can be performed quickly with a relatively small amount of contrast and interpreted in 3D reconstructed images.
In the Med Travelers survey, the number of temporary CT techs in demand has been erratic over the last four years, going from 16% in 2003 to 8% to 7% and finally rising again last year to 10%. While the overall use of CT in radiology has risen considerably, more and more cardiology practices are also getting into CT imaging, Garcia said.
Can Intestinal Ultrasound Provide an Alternative for Evaluating Creeping Fat with Crohn’s Disease?
September 25th 2024Intestinal ultrasound demonstrated an 88.2 percent agreement with computed tomography enterography in characterizing creeping fat in patients with Crohn’s disease, according to new research.
The Reading Room: Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Cancer Screenings, and COVID-19
November 3rd 2020In this podcast episode, Dr. Shalom Kalnicki, from Montefiore and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, discusses the disparities minority patients face with cancer screenings and what can be done to increase access during the pandemic.
Can Radiomics and Autoencoders Enhance Real-Time Ultrasound Detection of Breast Cancer?
September 10th 2024Developed with breast ultrasound data from nearly 1,200 women, a model with mixed radiomic and autoencoder features had a 90 percent AUC for diagnosing breast cancer, according to new research.
FDA Clears Controlled Contrast Delivery Method for Ultrasound Imaging of Fallopian Tubes
September 9th 2024Facilitating natural contrast delivery through an intrauterine catheter, FemChec can be utilized for ultrasound assessment of fallopian tubes and may provide diagnostic confirmation for an emerging non-surgical option for permanent birth control.