Medical Imaging

Xray

Uses electromagnetic waves

White: dense areas

Best for bone abnormality observation and lung structures

CT

Refined xray: bone is brighter

Best for brain and abdomen

Soft tissue is more defined

Collects small images and translates them into a cross-section picture

DSA

Type of CT that has before and after photos with and without a contrast medium

Shows only arteries and finds blockages in brain and heart

PET

Best for metabolic processes

Colored scan that uses radioisotopes

Cells use them: the more used, the brighter the scan (gamma waves)

Sonogram

Sound waves cause echoes that are scattered and reflected

Noise is seen as an image

Can’t look at air filled organs and sound waves his bones and organs surrounded by them

MRI

High contrast images made of soft tissue from using a magnet that maps hydrogen in the body.

Brain, spinal cord, tumors, multiple sclerosis plaques