About Our Department

The Department of Radiology & Imaging at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is nationally and internationally recognized as the premier center for leading edge musculoskeletal, orthopaedic, and rheumatologic clinical and research imaging.

Approximately 185,000 musculoskeletal imaging examinations are performed annually including Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computed Tomography (CT), Ultrasound, and Nuclear Medicine, of which approximately 132,500 are conventional radiography (x-ray) and interventional procedures. The Radiology Faculty at HSS are medical doctors with subspecialty expertise in medical imaging including MR, US, Fluoroscopy, CT, Nuclear Medicine, as well as in the various musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis, sports medicine, spinal conditions, tumors and others.

The Center for Musculoskeletal MR utilizes five high field strength units, including 1.5T, 3T and an open 0.7T. An additional 1.5T and 3T are expected to be operational by April 2007. All systems have state of the art gradient performance. MR examinations of the axial and appendicular skeleton, including peripheral MR angiography, are performed routinely. Orthopaedic hardware, including joint replacements, are regularly imaged at HSS and detailed cartilage imaging is performed without requiring a needle stick, unlike what is required at most other imaging centers.

The Center for Musculoskeletal Ultrasound has state-of-the-art equipment to permit extended field of view imaging for easier review by referring physicians. Diagnostic imaging and ultrasound-guided targeted therapeutic joint, tendon, ganglion, neuroma and cyst injections are routinely performed as an alternative to surgical intervention or prolonged conservative care. Doppler examinations of blood flow for early detection of infection and post surgical evaluation of healing are unique offerings at HSS. Special protocols are also utilized for post surgical small venous clot detection. Over 10,000 musculoskeletal ultrasound procedures are performed annually.

Interventional procedures routinely performed include arthrograms, myelograms, discograms, and out-patient image-guided (CT, fluoroscopy, ultrasound) aspirations, targeted therapeutic injections, bone biopsies, and vertebroplasty procedures.

As a dedicated musculoskeletal imaging facility, Hospital for Special Surgery's Department of Radiology & Imaging focuses all research, training, and the development of new techniques on optimizing the ability to image the earliest signs of a musculoskeletal condition, disease progression and/or healing. Many imaging protocols and procedures considered routine at HSS are done rarely, if at all, at other institutions. All imaging examinations are protocoled, performed, and interpreted by Board-Certified attending radiologists. A radiologist is a medical doctor with additional training in medical imaging and at HSS these physicians have additional sub-specialty training and expertise in musculoskeletal diseases and conditions. All Faculty members hold academic appointments at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH) and have been recognized by the Consumers' Research Council of America's Guide to America's Top Radiologists. In addition, many of the Faculty are the recipients of prestigious awards for outstanding research from peer reviewed organizations and have been recognized for their teaching skills from graduating orthopaedic and radiology residency classes.

The Radiology Technologists in the HSS Department of Radiology & Imaging are specifically skilled in obtaining diagnostic imaging studies in patients with musculoskeletal and/or spine pain in addition to those patients following surgery, without furthering patient discomfort.

The goal of the Faculty and staff of the HSS Department of Radiology & Imaging is to accurately diagnose musculoskeletal conditions and sources of musculoskeletal pain, help to restore function and mobility, and enhance the quality of patients' lives.

The entire medical staff of HSS is committed to the clinical, academic, and basic science research required to make diagnostic advances and bring this information to the global medical community.