Welcome to the Radiology Laboratory

In this laboratory you will learn about the tools doctors use to look inside the body. You'll be able to compare the inside of a tobacco user's body to the inside of a non-user's body. Before you step inside, let us tell you a little bit about what radiology is and the tools radiologists use.

Radiology

Radiology is the part of medicine that allows doctors to look inside the body to find disease. By creating an image of the inside of the body, the doctor can diagnose an illness and begin treatment.There are many types of imaging techniques in the field of radiology. The radiologist decides which technique is best based on the person's symptoms.

Among some of the tools that the radiologist use are the:

• CAT SCAN
• MRI
• ULTRASOUND
• X-RAY

To learn more about these techniques, or use the tools, please visit the Exam Room.

Computerized Axil Tomography (CAT SCAN)

The term CAT scan stands for Computerized Axil Tomography (tom-og-ruh-fee). The CAT scan uses x-rays, but instead of the image being recorded on photographic film, computers record the x-rays passing through the body. The scanner rotates around the entire body, taking a series of images that provide the doctor with a three dimensional image of the body. Since a CAT scan allows images to be taken on all sides of the body, it shows the exact location of a foreign object. CAT scans are great for looking at the brain.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

MRI is short for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. MRI is the most safe and accurate way to take pictures of the inside of your body. The part of the MRI scanner that takes pictures is a very large and very strong magnet. You lie inside that strong magnet. As you lie there very quietly, a radio wave antenna sends signals to your body and receives them back again. These returning signals are turned into pictures by a computer that is attached to the scanner.

Pictures of almost any part of your body can be taken by an MRI. They can be taken at just about any angle. The pictures taken by an MRI helps doctors tell the difference between healthy tissue and diseased tissue. An MRI scanner is better than traditional x-rays and CAT scans in seeing your brain, spinal cord, and nerves. An MRI can detect cancer very accurately. Doctors like to use MRI scanners to take pictures because they are so helpful in trying to figure out what is making their patients sick. Doctors can find out what is wrong with their patients without operating on them.

History of the MRI

The first idea of using a magnet to take pictures of the inside of a living being was in 1946. It was not until 1967 that the first picture of this type would be taken. It was an image of the inside of a dog. Five years later, in 1972, another image was taken, and this one was two-dimensional, meaning it captured both length and width.

In 1977, Dr. Raymond Damadian showed other doctors and scientists how to perform the world's first whole body MRI scan. It took him and his students many hours just to make one scan. His first scanner was named Indomitable (a word meaning unconquerable), and is on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D. C. In 1978, the world was introduced to what we know today as the MRI scanner.

How MRI Works

The MRI scanner is a large, donut-shaped magnet with a table. The patient lies on the table, and a technician runs the scanner from a computer nearby. The technician uses the computer to move the table into the hole of the donut. Now the pictures are taken. It does not hurt, but the patient must lie very still on the table so the pictures will be clear and not fuzzy. The patient might hear loud tapping noises, and the table might move slightly from time to time. This is done to get the very best pictures possible.Each picture can take five minutes. The patient might be in the machine up to an hour. The length of time spent in the MRI scanner depends on how many pictures need to be taken and the area of the body being examined. While inside the scanner, the patient can breathe well, and can talk with the technician from time to time.

ULTRASOUND

Ultrasound uses high frequency sound to create images. Just like dolphins and bats use sound waves to "paint a picture" of their surroundings, ultrasound uses the echo directed by sound waves bouncing off your body parts to "see" them. Ultra sound is very good at imaging organs and soft tissues in the body. Ultrasound can be used to image babies before they are born. Ultrasound can be used to determine if an abnormal growth is hard and potentially cancerous, or filled with fluid and non-cancerous. This way of viewing began in the 1950's, and today is the most popular way to look inside your body.

X-RAY

An X-Ray is the most common and quickest form of imaging. X-rays use a type of radiation that passes through soft tissue (likes muscles), but is absorbed by dense body parts (like bones and teeth). An X- Ray beam is "shot" though the body onto a piece of photographic film. The dense body parts form a shadow on the film, much like the shadow caused by your hand when it is placed in front of a light. X-Rays are useful to locate breaks in bones and to see if there are foreign objects inside the body. X-Ray photographs are two-dimensional. This makes the technique more appropriate for certain types of pictures. X-Rays can only be used effectively for the limbs or for an image from the front or back. As a result, X-Rays can only tell a doctor how far up or down and left or right a foreign object is, but cannot tell how deep it is into the body.

History of the X-Ray

X-rays were discovered in 1895 by Dr. Wilhelm Rontgen of Germany. While he was doing an experiment with electricity, he noticed something very interesting. When the electricity hit the end of a closed glass tube that had no air in it, it would put out x-rays. Then he noticed that he could use these x-rays on a glass plate to take pictures. He knew his discovery was a very important one for the field of medicine. It would help doctors see inside the body when a person was sick. It could be used to see broken bones and other problems. Dr. Rontgen won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 for this discovery.