New private ultrasound machine brings best to Karratha

Karratha residents now have access to a private state-of-the-art ultrasound machine to help alleviate lengthy wait times and reliance on trips to Perth. TM Ultrasound Clinic, Karratha’s only private diagnostic ultrasound service located within Karratha Central Healthcare, invested in the new technology to help increase service. The new machine provides a range of imagine including abdominal and urinary tract, women’s specialist, pregnancy and obstetric, musculoskeletal, thyroid and testicular. TM Ultrasound Clinic owner Thobe Mketwa said the machine allowed for more accurate diagnosis of medical conditions and meant patients could skip lengthy hospital wait times. “I do believe people in the Pilbara deserve to have the best technology available for them. This will make things much easier and more accurate,” she said. “We always want to be able to pick up anything that is out of the normal. It’s the best available anywhere.” Ms Mketwa said not only did the machine assist patients in Karratha, but also helped those across the region who don’t have access to ultrasound services. Philips ultrasound account manager and clinical applications specialist Stephen Cipriani said the machine was the newest and most advanced in regional WA. “What this machine brings is the very latest of what any ultrasound machine can do,” he said. “The critical thing that really expensive, advance machines do… is to see smaller things in more people more often. “That way we see disease earlier, we can treat it better and people can live better quality lives or live longer.” Mr Cipriani said the local hospital had a similar quality machine that was slightly older. Access to a high quality imaging service is something the town has been striving for for years — in 2017, long-term Karratha doctor Martin Kumar proposed to build a medical imaging centre with an MRI, ultrasound, CT and other imaging equipment. At the last State election, Pilbara candidates said they supported Dr Kumar’s proposal for which the proponents sought Government funding.