Chest Imaging

When your doctor needs to see what’s going on inside your chest, the nationally recognized thoracic imaging specialists at UMass Memorial Medical Center can help. Chest (Thoracic) Imaging is dedicated to finding and diagnosing non-cardiac (heart) diseases of the chest that involve the:

• Lungs
• Mediastinum (area of the chest that contains the trachea and esophagus)
• Pleura (lining of the lungs)
• Chest wall

With radiologists who specialize in chest imaging, we offer the region’s largest, most highly trained team of experts in this field. They perform nearly 45,000 exams a year – a level of experience that no other hospital in Central Massachusetts can match.

The Chest Conditions We Help Diagnose at UMass Memorial

Our chest imaging specialists are experts in evaluating such conditions as:

• Lung cancer
• Mediastinal masses
• Pulmonary (lung) infections
• Emphysema
• Empyema (pus in the pleural space)
• Pneumothorax (when air collects in the space around the lungs and causes a collapsed lung)
• Occupational (work-related) lung diseases such as asbestosis
• Asthma
• Tuberculosis
• Paralysis of the diaphragm

Chest Imaging Interventional Procedures

In addition to chest imaging, our radiologists also perform image-guided interventional procedures, including:

• Simple percutaneous (through the skin) lung biopsies to diagnose small cancers
• Aspiration (draining) of fluid in the chest
• Suctioning of air from the space around the lungs in pneumothorax

Our Chest Imaging Technology

UMass Memorial offers the latest chest imaging technology:

• CT (computed tomography)
• MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
• Fluoroscopy (an imaging technique that uses X-rays to obtain real-time moving images of the body’s internal structures)
• X-rays

Lung Cancer Screening Program

If you're worried about your risk for lung cancer, the new UMass Memorial Lung Screening Program may be able to help. Today there is evidence that using low-dose CT scans to screen people who smoke can help detect lung cancer early--and save lives.

Learn about the UMass Memorial Lung Screening Program by calling 774-442-LUNG (5864).