Download Diagnostic Imaging Services

Diagnostic Imaging
Techniques & Treatments
PowerPoint Presentation By:
Juliane Monko & Dr. Frank Flanders
CTAE Resource Network
June 2009
Objectives
• Compare and contrast the five types of
diagnostic imaging devices.
• Discuss the trends in diagnostic imaging
procedures.
• Explain historical events and developments
in imaging devices.
What is Diagnostic Imaging?
Diagnostic imaging refers
to technologies that
doctors use to look inside
your body for clues about
a medical condition.
Different machines and
techniques can create
pictures of the structures
and activities inside your
body.
Types of Diagnostic Imaging
• The technology your doctor uses will depend
on your symptoms and the part of your body
being examined.
• Types of diagnostic imaging include:
 X-rays
 CT scans
 Nuclear medicine scans
 MRI scans
 Ultrasound
 PET/CT
Imaging Tests
• Many imaging tests are painless and easy.
Although, some require you to stay still for a long
time inside a machine. This can be uncomfortable.
Certain tests involve radiation, but these are
generally considered safe because the dosage is
very low.
• For some imaging tests, a tiny camera attached to a
long, thin tube is inserted in your body. This tool is
called a scope. The doctor moves it through a body
passageway or opening to see inside a particular
organ, such as your heart, lungs or colon. These
procedures often require anesthesia.
History
• Over the years the types of diagnostic
imaging techniques have advanced.
• The newer techniques are less invasive and
reduce the patients exposure to radiation.
A Look at History:
Shoe Fitting X-ray Device
• Shoe fitting x-ray machines were common in
department stores in the late 1940’s and
early 1950’s.
• The purpose of the machine was to produce
an image of how your shoe fit.
• By the 1970s, the radiation hazard of the
shoe fitting x-ray was realized, eliminating its
use as a shoe fitting device.
The Shoe Fitting X-ray Device
Randy Glance,
CTAE Resource Network
The Discovery of X-ray
•
Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen detected
electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength
and produced a picture of his wife’s hand;
known today as the x-ray.
•
Roentgen originally named his discovery the
x-ray because it was an unknown type of
radiation and this name has stuck.
•
The photo of his wife, Anna Berthe, was the
first x-ray and was taken on December 22,
1895.
•
For his discovery, Roentgen was awarded
the Noble Peace Prize in 1901.
X-ray
• Health care professionals use them to look for broken bones,
problems in your lungs and abdomen, cavities in your teeth and
many other problems.
• X-ray technology uses electromagnetic radiation to make images.
The image is recorded on a film, called a radiograph. The parts of
your body appear light or dark due to the different rates that your
tissues absorb the X-rays. Calcium in bones absorbs X-rays the
most, so bones look white on the radiograph. Fat and other soft
tissues absorb less, and look gray. Air absorbs least, so lungs
look black.
• X-ray examination is painless, fast and easy. The amount of
radiation exposure you receive during an X-ray examination is
small.
New Developments in X-ray
• X-rays are moving from film to digital files with both
computed radiography and digital radiography.
• The advantage for the patient is that use of digital images
reduces costs because there is no longer a need for the
time and cost of processing film. Some believe digital files
are more dependable storage.
• Another advantage is the use of real time images during
surgery.
• Doctor offices and hospitals will also be able to do more
patient exams with this new technology.
Computed tomography (CT)
Scans
•
Computed tomography (CT) is a diagnostic procedure that uses
special X-ray equipment to create cross-sectional pictures of
your body. CT images are produced using X-ray technology
and powerful computers.
•
The uses of CT include looking for
Broken Bones
Cancers
Blood Clots
Signs of Heart Disease
Internal Bleeding
CT
During a CT scan, you
lie still on a table. The
table slowly passes
through the center of a
large X-ray machine.
The test is painless.
During some tests you
receive a contrast dye,
which makes parts of
your body show up
better in the image.
Nuclear Scans
• Nuclear scanning uses radioactive substances to see
structures and functions inside your body. Nuclear scans
involve a special camera that detects energy coming from the
radioactive substance, called a tracer. Before the test, you
receive the tracer, often by an injection. Although tracers are
radioactive, the dosage is small. During most nuclear
scanning tests, you lie still on a scanning table while the
camera makes images. Most scans take 20 to 45 minutes.
• Nuclear scans can help doctors diagnose many conditions,
including cancers, injuries and infections. They can also show
how organs like your heart and lungs are working.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(MRI)
• MRI’s do not use X-rays
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses a large
magnet and radio waves to look at organs and
structures inside your body. Health care professionals
use MRI scans to diagnose a variety of conditions, from
torn ligaments to tumors. MRIs are very useful for
examining the brain and spinal cord.
• During the scan, you lie on a table that slides inside a
tunnel-shaped machine. The MRI scan takes
approximately 30-60 minutes, and it is important for the
patient to stay as still as possible during the exam.
The scan is painless. The MRI machine makes a lot of
noise. The technician may offer you earplugs.
MRI with Contrast
• During an MRI, the
patient may be given
an injectable contrast,
or dye. This contrast
alters the local
magnetic field. Normal
and abnormal tissue
will respond differently
to this contrast.
Future of MRI
• The MRI should keep
seeing advances that will
allow the clinical process to
be much faster for the
patients, and produce a
highly detailed image.
• As MRI technology
advances patients will be
provided better treatments
as doctors understand
more and more of how the
brain works.
• Further advances provide
the possibility of taking 3-D
images instead of just the
MRI slices of the brain.
Ultrasound
• Ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves to look at
organs and structures inside the body.
• Health care professionals use them to view the heart,
blood vessels, kidneys, liver and other organs.
• During pregnancy, doctors use ultrasound tests to
examine the fetus. Unlike x-rays, ultrasound does not
involve exposure to radiation.
Ultrasound
During an ultrasound test, a
special technician or doctor
moves a device called a
transducer over part of your
body. The transducer sends
out sound waves, which
bounce off the tissues inside
your body. The transducer
also captures the waves that
bounce back. Images are
created from these sound
waves.
Future of Ultrasound
• All ultra sound is going toward real-time 3-D
• Many believe the biggest impact on healthcare
for the ultrasound it its portability.
• Advantage to patients: The portable ultrasound
has the potential to bring the ultrasound directly
to the patient. This ranges from the intensive
care patient not having to move rooms in the
hospital to allowing more access for rural areas
and disaster sites. This would all lead to faster
and more effective diagnoses that will benefit
the patients greatly.
PET/CT
• PET/CT; which not only helps doctors
locate the lesion more accurately (CT),
but also helps determine how active the
lesion is on the molecular level (PET).
Diagnostic Imaging Trends
• Diagnostic imaging plays a critical role in health
care, and technological advances has
increased its role.
• New technology means a great advantage for
the patient to have an early diagnosis.
• These noninvasive diagnostics allow doctors to
provide the best diagnosis and treatment with
fewer stress on the patient.
Impact of Technology for Patients
• In health care, the patients are the
number one priority. The advances in
diagnostic imaging should only improve
this.
• Ultimately, the patient will benefit the
most from these advances.
Diagnostic Imaging
The future will
integrate diagnostic
imaging with health
informatics and
health information
systems.