If you have ever been to a hospital for any reason, you may have seen at least one type of diagnostic medical imaging equipment. Diagnostic Medical Imaging is a very common technique for the physicians to look inside the body of their patients to find the cause of their injury or disease. Types of medical diagnostic imaging equipment include X-Ray, MRI, CT, Ultrasound, PET, Dexa Scan, 3D Mammography. We will give you a brief idea about each of them here.
X-Ray
X-Ray is the most common type of diagnostic medical imaging service. You see doctors do it all the time. If you have a broken or fractured bone or ankle, your doctor will surely suggest you do an X-Ray. When X-Rays enter our bodies, they make up an image of a metal film. Our bodies’ soft tissues cannot absorb the X-Rays but thicker areas like bones can. The image that the X-Ray shows is a black and white one. The black areas are where the X-Ray only passed through and the white areas are where our bodies absorbed the X-Ray.
MRI or Magnetic Resonance Imaging
To get an image of the patient’s body, unlike X-Rays which uses radiation, MRIs use a strong magnet. Lots of people are scared to get inside a giant magnet but it’s pretty harmless. There are 4 types of MRI- Closed, Wide Bore, True Open, and 3T. MRI is a powerful tool that can get a very detailed picture of our soft tissues and helps to detect complex diseases.
CT
More commonly known as the “cat scan”, Computed Tomography (CT) uses a series of X-Ray images and then creates a more complete picture of the patient’s body. It’s used in determining internal injuries.
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is most heard of when it comes to pregnancy but it serves other more complex purposes like pediatric, vascular, and testicular, too. Ultrasound uses sound waves that reflect off of the body of the patient to generate an image.
PET
Positron Emission Tomography uses a radioactive drug or tracer to show how the patient’s tissues and organs are functioning. It’s commonly used to observe the patient’s body’s blood flow, oxygen use, how their body uses sugar, etc.
Dexa Scan
Dexa Scan is used to measure bone mineral density using spectral imaging. This scan requires two different X-ray beams with different energy levels to enter the patient’s body and the bone mineral density is determined when the soft tissue absorption is subtracted out.
3D Mammography
This FDA approved advanced technology takes several images, or X-rays of breast tissues to make a clear 3-dimensional image. This technology can detect 35% of breast cancer sooner.
Conclusion
Diagnostic medical imaging is advanced technologies that make us able to live longer by helping the doctor make a more informed decision. While some of them may be costly depending on where you live, the rest are very affordable due to their worldwide use.
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