Recently, the First Affiliated Hospital (FAH) of Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU) received a letter from Dr. John Chipolombwe, Director General of Mzuzu Central Hospital in Malawi, Africa. In this letter, Director John Chipolombwe spoke highly of Li Junjun from Department of Radiology of FAH, the radiologist in charge of medical aid in Department of Radiology of Mzuzu Central Hospital in Malawi, Africa, appreciated Li Junjun for his dedication and hard work, and sincerely invited him to go back to Africa to guide radiology work and participate in the second-stage assignment of the construction project of China-Africa Counterpart Hospital Cooperation Mechanism.
As an expert from the technical team of Radiology and Laboratory Comprehensive Platform Construction Project of Department of Radiology, Li Junjun arrived at Department of Radiology of Mzuzu Central Hospital in Malawi on February 20, 2024, met with Attending Physician Shang Jin who arrived earlier, and immediately started medical work. According to the problems found during preliminary investigation, the keys and plans of medical aid construction work were determined, and constantly adjusted and optimized in practical work.
The medical team completed 562 cases of plain CT scan and CTA examination by personal demonstration to local radiologists, and combined with Chinese expert consensus, formulated and optimized the CT scanning specifications of different body parts.
They also made breakthroughs in novel technologies such as CTA scanning of the upper limbs, CTA scanning of abdominal aorta to popliteal artery combined with thigh enhanced examination, CTA and enhanced scanning of neck combined with chest, lower limb veins and CTU examination.
Li Junjun conducted 21 on-site technical operation teaching. During spare time, he actively promoted the work related to equipment donation, and vigorously accelerated clinical use of novel equipment after receipt, and communicated with domestic equipment manufacturers to ensure smooth implementation of the installation details. During 3-month medical aid in Malawi, Li Junjun made efficient use of the time and achieved fruitful outcomes. He assisted the formulation of strict specifications for CT scanning of various body parts of children, optimization of sequential radiation dose of special patients and radiation protection during CT scan, respectively. According to local needs of Malawi, he set the scanning sequence with local voice passwords and actively promoted low-dose CT scanning for specific populations. He provided recommended routine and special CT scan items, improved the contents of CT checklist, and actively communicated with the local hospital regarding the contrast media and other related issues. In addition, he also assisted Department of Radiology to accept the CT radiation detection by the radiation safety supervision agency in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, and continually optimized the radiation dose and image quality control for specific populations according to the test results. Li Junjun conducted online connection with Neusoft engineers on a regular basis, assisted the maintenance of CT equipment and reported daily maintenance and disinfection of CT equipment.
In terms of scientific research cooperation and discipline construction, under the guidance of Li Junjun and Shang Jin, local staff from Department of Radiology input retrospective data, and conducted research and analysis on the prevalence of various diseases in the local area based on these data. In addition, they also carried out prospective study of low-dose CT screening of chest and abdomen in specific populations. Combined with multiple expert consensuses, they promoted the standardized management of radiation dose of medical CT diagnostic equipment in Mzuzu Central Hospital and the radiation management of specific populations. Meantime, Li Junjun and Shang Jin also assisted the formulation of CT scan specifications and expert consensus in line with the local government.
At present, local technicians from Department of Radiology can independently complete routine maintenance and various operations of CT equipment, and significantly improve their professional capabilities, which can fully meet the needs of clinical departments in local hospitals and has been highly recognized by departments, hospitals and patients in Malawi.
