Tag Archives: X-ray

A form of electromagnetic radiation with very high frequency and energy used to create an image of the internal anatomy.

CDI Miami | Thursday April 25, 2019

X-Ray Imaging Scan: Everything You Ought To Know

X-Ray Imaging Scan- Everything You Ought To Know

 

X-Ray is the most widely used imaging technique. X-Ray was invented in 1895 by Roentgen. X-ray Miami uses electromagnetic radiations to get a look beneath the skin of a person. With the advancement in technology, a clearer picture can be obtained which helps to see the problems in the skeleton system. X-rays penetrate soft tissues but not bones; that’s why the structure of the bones can be seen on an X-ray film.

How Do X-Rays Work?

To get a clear picture the patient is placed between an X-ray source and an X-ray detector. When the machine is turned on, X-rays go through the body and are absorbed in different amounts. Bones appear white on an X-ray in the black background of a radiograph.

What are the uses of X-rays?

  • X-rays are used to examine bones for the possible fractures. It is a go-to tool to find out fractures of bones and teeth. X-rays help to find out the type of fracture; e.g. a hairline fracture, a broken bone, etc.
  • X-rays are a useful tool in the dental world. Dentists advise X-rays before performing invasive dental procedures.
  • X-rays also help to examine bone density; that is why they are done to find out if the patient is suffering from osteoporosis. Not only that, but X-ray is also helpful in detecting Arthritis.
  • Chest X-ray is helpful to find out if the patient is suffering from pneumonia. Early imaging of pneumonia helps in saving a patient’s life.
  • X-rays are extremely helpful in finding out any blockage in blood vessels and an enlarged heart.
  • Abdomen X-rays are often advised to children who have swallowed any articles.

Mammography

Mammography is a technique which uses x-rays to find out any abnormalities in the breast tissues. Mammography is extremely helpful in finding cancer at an early stage and save the patient from chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

CT (Computed Tomography)

Computed Tomography is a technique which uses x-ray technology with computer processing to generate several cross-sectional images. Ct scan helps to get detailed images of bones and internal organs. These images can be generated in a 3-D plane.

Are there any risks involved?

X-ray is a handy technique which helps to see the internal structure of the body; it helps physicians to examine and plan a treatment plan according to the disease. Small exposure to x-ray doesn’t cause any life-threatening harm.

Pregnant women are not advised abdomen x-ray for the fear of radiation harming the fetus. X-ray to any other body part except the abdomen is regarded safe for the pregnant women.

Center for diagnostic imaging has expert radiologist which can help you in various imaging scans.

 

CDI Miami | Thursday April 4, 2019

X-Ray: Most widely used technique for body imaging

X-Ray- Most widely used technique for body imaging

 

X-ray provides images of the body and produces results in very less time. X- rays use electromagnetic radiations which are used to get an inside picture of the body, particularly of bones. It is a noninvasive and a painless procedure which does not take a lot of time. X-ray radiations are absorbed by the body parts which have greater density, like bones and they appear white on the X-ray film. X ray Miami helps to find out various ailments in the body.
 
Why X-ray is done?
 
X-ray helps to examine body parts. It is used to get an inside picture of the body. Let’s see what are the uses of X-ray
 
Bones and teeth
 
Fractures
 
X-ray is a go-to tool to find if a body part has suffered a fracture and the type of fracture. With the help of X-ray, a physician finds out if it is a sprain, a hairline fracture or a broken bone.
 
Dental decay
 
Dentists advise tooth X-ray before performing various dental procedures. It helps them to check for any abnormalities in the teeth and jaw area.
 
Osteoporosis
 
X-ray can detect the density of your bone and can tell if you are suffering from osteoporosis.
 
Arthritis
 
X-ray plays a crucial role in detecting early signs of arthritis, it helps you take timely measure to improve the condition of your joints.
 
Chest
 
Pneumonia
 
X-ray can detect pneumonia, pneumonia will appear denser in the X-ray film than the air particles in the lungs and will appear as white spots on the film.
 
Enlarged heart
 
An enlarged heart is a sign of heart failure and it shows easily on X-ray.
 
Blockage in blood vessels
 
Blockage in the lungs and heart are depicted on X-ray.
 
Abdomen
 
Swallowed articles
 
Swallowed items will appear denser on X-ray, which helps to find out where exactly the item is lying in the abdomen.
 
Is it safe to have an X-ray during pregnancy?
 
There are no side effects of having X-ray during pregnancy; however, it is important to let your radiologist know if you are pregnant before having your X-ray. Depending on the region of your body where you need to get X-ray, a center for diagnostic imaging can analyze better if it is safe for you to have X-ray, for example, X-ray of arms, head or teeth do not expose the fetus to direct beams.

CDI Miami | Wednesday March 20, 2019

How PACS Transformed The Medical Imaging?

How PACS Transformed The Medical Imaging?

PACS or picture archiving communications systems has changed the scenarios of radiology departments drastically. With a number of PACS system installed in the radiology departments of the hospital, the diagnostic medical imaging departments have progressed enormously in the country. With this system, there are a number of advantages to the medical professionals, as they can capture, stock, send and display the medical images from one radiology workstation to another workstation and can use the images for future research.

Impact Of PACS

PACS has completely changed the working of the hospital’s radiology department. PACS has made scheduling easy, the patient can track and generate reports after some time in that system. Patients X-ray and CT-scan images are electronically stored in the system, which can be viewed afterward on the computer screen by the doctors for treatment and research purposes. PACS has improved the diagnosis method and creates a film in fewer images. The radiologist or doctor has the full access to view the past images of the patients in center for diagnostic imaging for comparing multiple images through PACS.

PACS has enhanced the working of the radiology department. It has improved the productivity of diagnosis and reporting of particular diagnostic imaging. Hospital and healthcare centers are giving best services to the people coming for various diagnostic tests. Moreover, PACS have completely simplified the hospital’s process, as they can operate by viewing various X ray radiology images.

The prominent feature of PACS is the speed, which has solved the matter of the time-consuming process of images developing. But now images can be seen in PACS after few seconds.

Importance Of PACS In Radiological Department

The PACS system has made diagnostic imaging more in digital forms which are more affordable and has resulted in finishing the possibility of losing any images due to mismanagement by the authorities. In addition to this, the diagnostic methods have improved giving a clearer image to the doctors. Doctors can manipulate the images for correctly diagnosing and getting a full detailed image on the screen.

The feature of PACS to be accessible to multiple clinicians has helped patients to show their reports to various doctors. Additionally, they are being used in training the interns and enhancing the teaching experience for a better understanding of the medical students. Now, medical students are exposed to various diagnostic digital images for having in-depth knowledge of the web. PACS is easy to use and highly effective method adopted by hospitals which have resulted in improving the working and diagnosing process of various departments.

 

 

CDI Miami | Tuesday May 10, 2016

Mobile Diagnostic Imaging: The Next Big Thing?

ct scanner in a specialized stroke ambulance

A specialized stroke ambulance, called VIMED STEMO, carries a portable CT scanner and a point-of-care laboratory for nearly-instant diagnosis and initiation of treatment in stroke patients.
Source: http://www.medgadget.com/

Portable X-ray and CT scan devices are on the rise for patients with mobility issues. Portable X-ray and CT scan devices wirelessly communicate and share data, via cellular, WLAN, WMAN, WPAN, and WWAN (read: WIFI) communication networks. Furthermore, these devices act as intermediaries between patients and healthcare staff; monitoring patients and providing therapy, imaging, and diagnostics. The device is paired with a machine that allows it to transfer and store digital images almost instantly. Continue reading

CDI Miami | Tuesday April 5, 2016

Inside the Restless Mind: MRI Scans discover insomnia is linked to irregularities in the Brain’s Communication Networks

 

 

Everyone occasionally experiences sleepless nights of tossing and turning, waking up exhausted in dreary. For an insomniac, however, these experiences are not only regular, recent MRI scans suggest that there may be a connection between the sleeping disorder and irregularities in the brain communication networks.

mri insomnia

In a recent study of insomniacs published online in Radiology, researchers from the Department of Medical Imaging at Guangdong No. 2 Provincial People’s Hospital in Guangzhou, China, found reduced white matter in the thalamus, which regulates consciousness, sleep and alertness, and in the limbic system, which supports functions like emotion, behavior, motivation, long-term memory, and olfaction.

 

“White matter tracts are bundles of axons – or long fibers of nerve cells – that connect part of the brain to another,” said coauthor Shumei Li in a press release. She added: “If white matter tracts are impaired, communication between brain regions is disrupted.”

 

Li and her colleagues recruited 23 primary insomnia patients – those whose sleeplessness is not attributable to a medical, psychiatric, or environmental cause – and 30 healthy controls. All the participants answered questionnaires about the quality of their sleep and their levels of anxiety and depression.

 

The findings revealed that insomnia patients had signigicantly reduced white matter integrity in several parts of the right brain, including the body corpus callosum – the largest white matter structure of the brain – and the right thalamus. Researchers linked the reduced activity of the body corpus callosum to more severe insomnia and depression scored in the patients.

 

Dr. Lisa Fairweather, a psychiatrist in Colleyville, Texas, uses a car analogy to explain how the brain acts in patients who have difficulty sleeping.

 

“The brain is like a car with the engine of a Ferrari but the brakes of a bicycle. It performs extremely well switching gears and racing forward, but it suffers from an ability to slow down. This can be most obvious during bedtime,” she told Medical Daily .

 

Previous brain imaging studies have linked primary insomnia to brain abnormalities in young and middle-aged adults. A 2008 paper found that patients who have primary insomnia for more than six months showed a 30 percent reduction in gamma-aminobutyric acid, whose purpose is to decrease overall activity in many areas of the brain, helping to shut it down, especially when it’s time to sleep. This could be why insomniacs commonly complain that their minds keep racing and won’t quiet down at night.

 

This constant “on” state is one of hyperarousal, with unusually high levels of  cortisol, metabolic activity, and sympathetic activity when insomniacs are both awake and asleep, according to Dr. David Brown, a sleep psychologist at the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas.

 

Brown believes the biggest problem with insomnia is that it is not a single entity.

 

“There are many types of insomnia and many different causes. Insomnia severity may be short lived and acute, or chronic,” he told Medical Daily. “Some insomnias show difficulty falling to sleep, some have difficulty staying asleep, some wake too early and cannot get back to sleep.”

 


 

Source: Li S, Tian J, Bauer A et al. Reduced Integrity of Right Lateralized White Matter in Patients with Primary Insomnia: A Diffusion-Tensor Imaging Study. Radiology. 2016. Original Article

 

CDI Miami | Tuesday November 10, 2015

X-Rays and MRIs

Technology has come a long way in the X-Ray field as traditional film is largely being replaced by digital imaging, called digital X-Ray or digital radiography.  This new technology uses sensors from a digital image device as opposed to the use of traditional photographic film.  Widely used by doctors, dentists, hospitals, and X-Ray centers worldwide, this new technology allows for a more cost-effective and user-friendly approach to X-Ray imaging.

A key advantage to digital radiography is an increase in overall health and well-being.  By using digital imaging in place of traditional film, up to fifty percent less radiation is used to capture images.  In addition, when using traditional film, costly developing chemicals are required thus increasing chemical exposure to patients and staff members.  By removing the film-developing step from the X-Ray process, digital radiography provides a much safer approach and is more cost effective as well.  Both material and labor costs are lowered as developing chemicals are not required and companies that pick up hazardous waste are no longer needed, thus saving thousands of dollars.

Compared to traditional film, digital radiography produces higher quality images that are ready to view within seconds allowing for quicker appointment times. They are simpler to access and easily shared via email from practice to practice.  Similar to using photo edit controls on a computer, digital X-Ray images can be manipulated for clearer results by enlarging and brightening the images.  This provides a clearer picture, allowing for early detection and a more proactive treatment plan.  Because patients are also able to view the images more clearly, a new educational approach to diagnosis and treatment has been made possible.
04

Also more and more patients and doctors are choosing open MRI scan vs. traditional MRI for their diagnostic needs. In fact, there is such a high demand that an increasing number of MRI diagnostic centers, such as the Center for Diagnostic Imaging in Miami, are offering open MRI either exclusively or as part of their diagnostic imaging MRI services.

Not only does open MRI offer the same high-quality diagnostic images as regular MRI machines, but it also offers a greatly increased comfort level for patients.

There are many groups of patients in particular that appreciate the openness of the open MRI tube, including children, overweight patients and those suffering from claustrophobia.

Open MRI has been revolutionary in being able to effectively scan children. And open MRI has not only allowed overweight patients a higher level of comfort, it produces better scans for this population. The open MRI’s wider opening allows a better positioning of overweight patients, which helps improve image quality and accuracy. The open MRI table weight limits are also substantially higher than those of closed MRI machines, providing access to a greater number of patients.

Many patients actually first discover that they are claustrophobic while getting a scan on a closed MRI machine. The closed tube, with limited space is extremely frightening for those that suffer from this phobia. Open MRI addresses these fears with its open sides and flared tube opening which allows a feeling of greater freedom and space.

Our Miami-based center offers the latest in all imaging technology: providing access to the latest treatments, while minimizing radiation exposure to our clients.

At the Center for Diagnostic Imaging, a full body scan can be offered in MRI scan form and also in CTA scan and Pet CT scan forms.

CDI Miami | Wednesday October 14, 2015

Saving Time and Money by Combining Diagnostic Medical Imaging Tests

Many patients do not ask questions about the types of diagnostic medical imaging tests their doctors order.  However, patients should not be afraid to start a dialog with their doctors and talk about whether it might make sense to have a second, different type of scan done at the same time.  In many cases, doing so can save the patient time and money.  Continue reading

CDI Miami | Thursday December 4, 2014

Diagnostic Imaging Services for Arthritis

Arthritis includes more than 100 different rheumatic diseases and conditions, and it is one of the most common causes of disability in the country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 50 million U.S. adults report having doctor-diagnosed arthritis. Continue reading