The Department of Health and Community Services has provided funding of $196,000 to Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) Health Services to implement radiology technology at the James Paton Memorial Regional Health Centre in Gander and the Central Newfoundland Regional Health Centre in Grand Falls–Windsor.

The equipment is a wire-free, radiation-free system that assists with locating soft-tissue lesions during surgery. The technology consists of an introducer needle with a preloaded magnetic marker. This technology:

• Reduces delays in access to surgery and aids in planning with respect to radiology resources.
• Averts potential adverse outcomes from such a delay.
• Aids in patient comfort.

Currently, lesions are marked pre-operatively by interventional radiology using a wire to mark targeted areas on the day of surgery. This practice can significantly impact timely access to required surgery for the patient due to logistics and human resource challenges.

The radiology technology will allow radiologists and surgeons to precisely locate lesions for removal and more precisely limit the removal of soft tissue margins around the lesion.