Diagnostic Imaging

• Angiography
• Bone Density
• CT Scan
• Fluoroscopic Procedures
• General Radiography (x-ray)
• Mammography (including Ontario Breast Screening Program)

• High-Risk Breast Screening
• MRI
• Nuclear Medicine
• Ultrasound

Directions for Nuclear Medicine and Mammography:

• enter through the main entrance facing Bovaird Drive
• take the Leaf elevators to the 2nd level
• turn right as you exit the elevator, then turn left and follow the signs

Directions for all other tests:

• enter through the main entrance facing Bovaird Drive
• turn left at the elevators and follow the signs
• the Diagnostic Imaging Department is on the 1st level in the main atrium

• Bone Mineral Density
• CT Scan
• Angiography
• MRI
• Nuclear Medicine
• Mammography (including Ontario Breast Screening Program)
• High-Risk Breast Screening
• General Radiography (x-ray)
• Ultrasound

Directions for main building:

• enter through the main entrance
• follow the signs to Diagnostic Imaging

Directions for Etobicoke Wellness Centre:

• take the elevator to level 4

• General Radiography (x-ray)
• Mammography (Ontario Breast Screening Program only)
• Bone Densitometry
• CT Scan
• CT Lung Screening Program
• Ultrasound

Directions:

• enter through the main entrance
• follow signs to Diagnostic Imaging on the main level (in the yellow pillar area)

Please bring your Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) card, requisition for exam and information regarding your current physician care provider. If you do not have an OHIP card, please bring photo identification such as a passport or driver’s license.

If you are not covered by OHIP, please expect to sign a responsibility for payment document, or provide payment for your examination, as some exams require payment before proceeding.

Parents or legal guardians will be able to accompany a paediatric patient throughout their health care journey, however, you may be asked to wait outside the exam room in certain cases.

Registration must occur for every exam in diagnostic imaging and must be done at the registration kiosks located in the main lobby of every Osler site. Additionally, Brampton Civic also has registration kiosks in the entrance B lobby, and in front of x-ray registration in the atrium. Peel Memorial has additional registration kiosks in front of the diagnostic imaging area. Etobicoke General has additional registration kiosks in the lobby of the Etobicoke Wellness Centre where many diagnostic exams are scheduled (fourth level).

Please inform our staff if you or your loved one prefers a language other than English, has vision or hearing difficulty or uses a sign language interpreter. Osler offers interpretation and translation services.

Once your exam is complete, the results will be sent to the ordering physician and/or your family physician. The amount of time for the results to be received varies with each individual test. If your provider has not received your results after two weeks, please see obtaining your diagnostic imaging records below.

Contrast materials are used to improve the quality of imaging exams by changing the way radiation interacts with the body. They are only temporarily in the body, which rids it through urination or bowel movements.

If you are aware of an allergy to contrast materials, it is very important to mention this to your physician. Your physician will be responsible for following the instructions on the exam requisition to prepare you for the exam. Typically there are mild to no side-effects from receiving contrast materials, however if symptoms persist, contact your physician, or go to an emergency department.

Diagnostic exams are performed on paediatric patients only if a medical professional believes that it is necessary for them to help with a diagnosis and there are not any suitable substitutes. The benefits of a diagnostic exam significantly outweigh the risks, and exams are adjusted to safely provide the desired images.

Advising your physician and technologist that you are pregnant is very important, especially as it may indicate the reason for a symptom. For any diagnostic exams that involve radiation, pregnancy status is established before the exam is performed, to ensure the exam is performed in the safest possible way. Although the risk is low for diagnostic exams that involve radiation, extra precaution is taken to protect the mother and unborn child. For example, if an exam is necessary, and no suitable alternatives for diagnosis exist, an alternative position may be used. An exam involving radiation may affect breast milk, which may need to be disposed of for a short period of time after an exam. Ultrasound does not use radiation so it is the safest and preferred method to monitor fetal well-being.

Diagnostic exams in hospitals generally use very small amounts of radiation and Osler’s diagnostic imaging exams follow guidelines which indicate that the minimum required radiation is used to obtain images. This means that exams performed at hospitals are low risk and the benefits significantly outweigh the risks.

Below are resources which provide more in-depth information regarding radiation:

• RadiologyInfo: complete diagnostic imaging exam guide
• Image Wisely: alternative diagnostic imaging guide

Please note that Osler has updated our patient shielding policy by removing lead shielding during patient exams with x-ray radiation.

This decision aligns with the latest revisions to Health Canada’s Safety Code, the Canadian Association of Radiologists and the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists. The change reflects advancements in x-ray technology and health care safety, aligning with other hospitals in Canada and the United States.

Up-to-date research has shown that lead shielding has negligible or no benefit to a patient’s health. Removing the use of lead shielding will ensure the patient receives the lowest possible radiation dose and no anatomy is obscured.

For more information regarding this change, please see Health Canada’s Safety Code 35 and statement from the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists.

All Osler patients can register for MyChart™. If a patient is younger than 14, their parent or legal guardian can contact us at 905-494-2120 ext. 56203 to access their child's records. When children turn 14, they take ownership of their own MyChart™ accounts.

We are proud to offer patients the ability to access, store and share their medical imaging records online using PocketHealth. Instead of having to pick up and carry around a CD, PocketHealth allows you to:

• Instantly access your imaging records anytime on any device
• Share your imaging in full diagnostic quality with your physician or specialist
• Permanently and safely store your records (strong privacy and encryption protocols keep your medical information as secure as your banking information)

How to get PocketHealth

Register online for a PocketHealth account. There is a fee at the time of enrollment which includes permanent access to all previous imaging as well as any new exams. PocketHealth has two membership options: flex ($10/month, cancel anytime) and unlimited ($49/year). Both plans give you:

• Unlimited imaging record requests from any of the 600+ PocketHealth-connected hospitals and clinics
• Up to four additional profiles to manage all imaging records, all in one place
• Lifetime permanent storage for all imaging records
• Ability to cancel anytime and continue to access and share your imaging records, from any device, without incurring any additional charges

With the unlimited plan you can also securely store and share any past imaging from CDs and any health records, including lab results, prescriptions and vaccine receipts.

For more information, visit the PocketHealth website. Questions about PocketHealth? Call 1-855-381-8522 or email help@pocket.health.