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The Pros And Cons Of Medical Imaging

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Medical imaging refers to any process in a medical setting where the body is imaged to diagnose non-superficial injury or disease. The professional of medical imaging involves a variety of imaging techniques, two of the most common being Computed Tomography (CT), and Ultrasound scans. Medical imaging can be used for diagnostic (CT/Ultrasound) or therapeutic purposes, as is the case with Radiation Therapy which using ionising radiation to control malignant cells. Furthermore, medical imaging modalities can be further divided into Ionising radiation and non-ionising radiation imaging techniques. It is these radiation properties that determines the safe proximity a medical practitioner can be in relation to a scan when it is being performed.

Ionising radiation

To produce a medical image, energy is required. In medical imaging radiation is the form of energy utilised. In physics, radiation is defined as “the emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as subatomic particles, especially high-energy particles that cause radiation” (REF). Ionising radiation is of a shorter …show more content…

The internal body structures able to be visualised with ultrasound include tendons, muscles, joints, blood vessels, and internal organs. However, it is unable to image through air, and therefore has issues with the lungs, bowel loops or bone. The high frequency energy, in the form of sound waves, used in ultrasound are higher than those audible to humans (>20,000 Hertz). The process of producing an image, or sonogram, using ultrasound relies on the pulse echo principle. This involves sending pulses of ultrasound into tissue using a transducer, with the sound reflecting, or echoing, back to the transducer to be recorded. Differing tissues will send sound echoes of varying degrees, and therefore body tissues can be differentiated and

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