Advantages And Disadvantages Of Diagnostic Imaging

One of the biggest advantages of MRI equipment is that it can be used to diagnose medical conditions in the heart, breast, bones, spine, and brain. This is the only imaging equipment, which can be used to diagnose issues, in all the above-mentioned parts of the body. The equipment can be used to identify stroke and blockages in the circulatory system, cardiovascular conditions, tumors, and injuries. There is an excellent return on investment in the MRI because of the variety of uses it has in a clinical setting (Keefer, 2011).

In nuclear medicine diagnosing techniques, a very small amount of radioactive material is introduced into the body. Because medical isotopes are attracted to specific organs, bones or tissues, the emissions they produce can provide crucial information about a particular type of cancer or disease. Information gathered during a nuclear medicine technique is more comprehensive than other imaging procedures because it describes organ function, not just structure. The result is that many diseases and cancers can be diagnosed much earlier.

In the modern years, medical imaging has become a very important aspect of medical field since its origin in the 1970s Image processing has developed into an integral part of medical science ranging from PET scan to melanoma detection. Both the hardware and software required for Image processing have improved drastically resulting in today’s world where the medical professionals can recognise and diagnose thousands of diseases using this technology.

Diagnostic imaging techniques can be used to create images of blood vessels, tissues, and organs, to determine whether the shape or size of the kidney is abnormal. Ultrasounds can be used to view internal organs as they function, and to assess blood flow through various vessels. Biopsies can also be performed for examination under a microscope to determine if cancer or other abnormal cells are present or suspected all as part of the diagnosis process.

A computed tomography scan provides more detail images than a chest x-ray by creating cross sectional images, this images can help identify enlarge organs or lymph nodes in the neck, chest, abdomen and chest (American Cancer Society). During this test the patient is lays on a flat table that moves in and out of a donut shaped scanner that takes images in different angles. Sometimes contrast medium may be used to highlight abnormal areas in the body. If contrast medium is used, it is the nurse’s responsibility to establish a patent IV, check for iodine allergies, check for kidney function due to contrast nephrotoxicity, check for delay allergies after the procedure, and advise the patient to drink plenty of fluids to eliminate contrast (Leeuwen, Anne 2015). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is only used when spread to the spinal cord and brain are suspected (American Cancer Society). Positron emission tomography (PET) scan uses an IV contrast called fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), this contrast is a form of glucose, and because cancer cells reproduce quickly they need more glucose, which is why this contrast highlights the areas where abnormal cells are (Cancer Society). PET scans can be used to monitor how well patients are responding to treatment therapies, they can help identify areas of the body with lymphoma that may appear clear in other tests such as biopsies or CT scans allowing patients to

In the medical field, it is used to diagnose diseases and portray a more accurate and elaborate image of inside the body.

Hospitals, Doctor offices, and many more use lots of different imaging methods daily to check on different parts of your body. From doing an X-ray to check on your bones, to a CT scan to check on the brain for hemorrhages, tumors, and atrophy. To an MRI is used to image soft tissues of the body like the heart and lungs (Timberlake, Karen p. 340). In this research paper, I will talk about 2 more different imaging methods and come more in depth with X-rays, CT scans, and MRI’s.

X- ray is electromagnetic radiation that penetrates structures within the body and creates images of these structures on photographic film or a fluorescent screen. Diagnostic x- ray is useful in detecting abnormalities within the body. They are a painless, non-invasive way to help diagnose problems such as broken bones, tumors, dental decay, and the presence of foreign bodies.

Medical imaging such as the x-ray work by shooting a x-ray beam at your body and on the other side of you they are detectors and it detects those waves which result in an image which ever part is not detected is your image. Many people may think a x-ray is a machine and that is true but a actual x-ray is a

Up until the 1970’s, physicians had access to several different imaging systems such as CT (Computed Tomography) and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), but these types of imaging only allowed physicians to see the internal structures of the body, not how they functioned. With the advent of PET, the physicians are now able to see and record these functions.

These frightening process sometimes causes society to forget the major benefits of CT. CT should be also known as a painless life-saving device because it helps diagnose diseases and abnormalities, like injuries in body, kidney or bladder stones and it’s also significantly used to diagnose cancer. Having the ability to specifically diagnose and treat those conditions on time, in many opportunities, increases the success on the patient’s health (UCDavis Health System: "Computed Tomography”). National Cancer Institute: FactSheet states “in cancer, CT may be used to help detect abnormal growths; to help diagnose tumors; to provide information about the extent, or stage of disease; to help in guiding biopsy procedures or in planning treatment; to determine whether a cancer is responding to treatment and to monitor for recurrence.” CT scan has been a phenomenal gain for cancer

This is because clinicians view internal anatomy with the aid of radiographic images, to help make diagnosis of and manage diseases. Radiographic diagnosis is the most important method of non-invasive testing of the living body. Furthering my mathematical studies, especially

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a scan used for a medical imaging procedure. With the use of a magnetic field and radio waves, an MRI scan takes pictures of the inside of the patient’s body. An MRI scan is particularly useful when images of soft tissue such as organs and muscles that do not generally appear on x-ray examinations need to be collected. X-rays generally image calcium present in bones, so they are useful to image bones. MRI scans image water as opposed to other diagnostic tools including X-rays or CAT scans. Thus, this makes them useful because every tissue of the body has various amounts of water present. This allows high-resolution pictures of numerous amounts of organs and tissues to be produced particularly of areas that

Nuclear Medical Imaging (NMI) uses small amounts of radiopharmaceuticals or radiotracers to diagnose, evaluate and treat a variety of diseases such as cancer, heart disease, gastrointestinal, endocrine, neurological and skeletal disorders (McKinnis, 2014; RadiologyInfo.org (2014b). In comparison with other radiographic procedures, except for intravenous injections, NMI is noninvasive and diagnoses disease based on the physiological or functional changes of the tissue, organ, bone or system within the body rather than structural changes of anatomy (McKinnis, 2014; RadiologyInfo.org, 2014b; Smith, n.d.). These radiotracers are either injected, ingested or inhaled as a gas into the body and absorbed by the organ or area of the body to be examined

The procedures of nuclear medicine imaging are non-invasive. 1 Because of this imaging technology, different medical instruments are not used into the body while detecting or diagnosing a disease. In this way, patients do not feel any pain of the medical instruments as different radioactive materials are used to determine the disease in their body.