Radiographic Images

X Ray

A machine sends individual photons through the body, and while passing through a camera take images of the body and sends them to a computer. (electromagnetic radiation throughout the body)

Examines bones, teeth, lungs, breasts, hearts, blood vessels, and the digestive tract. Dense structures block most of the x-ray particles and will appear white e.g bones. Structures that contain air will appear black/ muscle structures, fat, and fluids will appear grey. (two dimensional images)

X-Rays are often used in cases where someone may have broken a bone or sprained something like their wrist or ankle.

CT Scan

Someone lays in a large x-ray tube that rotates around the body, the table the body is on then slowly moves in the machine, allowing for each rotation to take small images of the body. (uses iodine radiation)

Examines the chest, abdomen, pelvis, spine, and other structures, producing cross section images of the body.

CT scans typically are used in cases where doctors have a patient who has been very badly hurt e.g. in an accident and needs to view the damage done as a whole.

MRI

A MRI is preformed inside of a large magnet, where the person lies in the center. The machine turns the magnets on and off repeatedly to scan the body. When doing this radio waves are sent throughout the body and sent back to the machine which use the waves to create images of wherever the body is being scanned.

Examines the brain, spine, joints, abdomen, and pelvis.

MRI's are typically used to see if someone may have a mass growing inside of them e.g cancer or things like free fluid in their lungs/ internal bleeding.

Bone Scan

A person is injected with 'tracers' that are absorbed and circulated throughout the bones. Once this is fully absorbed the patient then a gamma camera passes over the body to record passes of the tracer on the bones.

Used to examine the skeleton to detect abnormalities. Areas show up as darker or lighter where tracers have or have not shown up.

Radiologists use bone scans to look for abnormal bone metabolism on the scan