Planmed Verity® utilized at the Cortina Alpine World Ski Championships 2021

Professor Giuseppe Monetti is one of the pioneers in the musculoskeletal (MSK) radiology and a strong believer in the benefits of the weight-bearing imaging. He had a key role in making the decision to install the Planmed Verity® CBCT scanner at the Cortina Hospital, part of the GVM Care and Research, to benefit the athletes competing in the Alpine World Ski Championships 2021.

Athlete Giuliano Razzoli, Radiologist and Professor Giuseppe Monetti, one of the greatest downhill skiers of all time, Kristian Ghedina, and Planmed Sales Manager Claudiano Tagliareni.

During his extensive career as an awarded radiologist, Professor Giuseppe Monetti has worked in various imaging centers, with a particular focus on helping professional athletes to be diagnosed in the most accurate way so that they would able to return to their job as soon as possible. In addition, his ambition has always been to help ordinary people who need not only a standard-level diagnoses but a deeper investigation of pathologies that are indefinite and difficult to diagnose.

Prof. Monetti’s diagnostic tools include a wide variety of modalities, such as the ultrasound, X-ray, computed tomography (CT) and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), as well as dynamic and orthostatic MRI. During the Alpine World Ski Championships 2021 in Cortina, Italy, in February, Prof. Monetti and his team utilized the Planmed Verity® CBCT scanner to provide high-quality first aid treatments at a fast pace.

First, thank you, Professor Monetti, for your time and for believing in the Planmed Verity® technology. Could you tell us a bit about your key principles as a radiologist?

My clinic works as an MRI reference site and development center for Esaote, the industrial group manufacturing medical diagnostic systems, to develop and spread the use of dynamic and weight-bearing MR exams. In my opinion, all the diagnostic tools need to be compatible and comparable. That’s why I consider the weight-bearing CT and MRI two fantastic tools for radiologists and surgeons to offer the best diagnose and treatment for their patients.

The advantage of using two different technologies, MRI and CBCT, is that it enables highly accurate diagnoses. MRI provides you with a global view of the pathology including the soft tissues and surrounding structures, whereas CBCT – due to its higher resolution – is ideal for showing the trabecular net of the bone and its small details.

I strongly believe in the use of a CBCT in the emergency room. In fact, I was one of the first users of the Planmed Verity scanner and I contributed in the development and validation of its diagnostic use. At the moment, CBCT is not yet as widely utilized as it could be, but I am hoping that in the years to come, it will become the industry standard.

Another important aspect to take into account is the radiation dose. If we consider fractures, the typical protocol is to first take two to three X-rays. If we are still in doubt, we proceed with even more native X-ray projections and perhaps a CT. How high is the patient dose at this point? Keeping in mind that the effective patient dose should be as low as possible, wouldn’t it be better to bring in CBCT after the first X-ray, and then add the MRI, if necessary. This way we would have all the necessary information to make a diagnosis without any error or doubt – at a lower dose.

And the final point I would like to make is the weight-bearing imaging. Some hidden fractures are not clearly visible on a lying-down patient. The weight-bearing imaging allows us to see potential misalignments that may not be visible in the lying-down position.

Which features of the Planmed Verity® system were the most useful in your work at the Alpine World Ski Championships?

We needed to see any single small fracture and small details for a better diagnosis. For this, the Planmed Verity scanner is ideal. These are high-level professional athletes, and time is scarce, so this affects the selected method of treatment as well. All exams need to be well-suited to their activities and appropriate for their follow-up treatment for them to be able to return fast to their sport.

Surgeons need to see the joint functionality, not only the small details. Understanding the full movement and how it interacts with surrounding structures is crucial for every patient, not only the athletes.

What do you consider the main strengths or advantages of the Planmed CBCT system?

Surely the weight-bearing exams that give much more detailed and new information compared to the sitting or lying position of the patient. In addition, the portability is crucial when working in an emergency department. I have loved the Planmed Verity since the very beginning due to its ergonomics, the high-technology materials used to manufacture it and the wide range of colors available. I consider Planmed a high-end brand, such as Bentley, Rolls Royce or similar brands. I hope this is the start of a new cooperation between us.

Professor Alessandro Lelli, Professor Giuseppe Monetti, athlete Kristian Ghedina and Planmed Sales Manager Claudiano Tagliareni.

Is there anything else you would like to say about your experience with Planmed?

I think my cooperation with the Planmed family is only in the beginning and it’s my firm intention to push the weight-bearing scan together with the orthopedic application for a long time. I’m very glad we could take this great opportunity to cooperate at the Alpine World Ski Championships. I would like to thank Planmed, the Italian dealer Sira Medical, and the staff at Cortina Hospital and GVM for the excellent teamwork in installing the Planmed Verity system on such a short notice. It would not have been possible, I believe, with other manufacturing companies.

As I see it, the most important aspect of our cooperation will be to spread the message that CT, CBCT and MRI are all essential diagnostic tools and not competitive technologies. We are all promoting the notion that we need all these exams to grant better care to our patients.

Weight-bearing and dynamic exams made with both CBCT and MRI are not competing but complementary, and using a common approach is of crucial importance for better patient care.

Athlete Giuliano Razzoli and Professor Giuseppe Monetti.

About the doctor

Professor Giuseppe Monetti completed his degree in Medicine and Surgery and subsequently specialized in Radiology and Radiodiagnostics at the University of Bologna, Italy. Since 1992, he has worked as Director of the Department of Diagnostics for Images of Private Nursing Nigrisoli Hospital in Bologna. He is the founding member and adviser for the section on Diagnostics for Images in Sports Medicine, S.I.R.M. (Italian Society of Medical Radiology). During his career, Prof. Monetti has published over 800 papers on the musculoskeletal system and authored or co-authored over 50 books about the musculoskeletal system, musculoskeletal ultrasound and integrated imaging.