5.1 Contrast Agents Part 1 Flashcards
Contrast Agents introduced in practice by ______,
a Urologist in _____
Moses Swick,
1928
Any substance that renders an organ or
structure more visible than is possible without its addition
Radiographic Contrast Media
Allows visualization of structures that
can not be seen well or at all under
normal circumstances
Radiographic Contrast Media
Substances which help in better
differentiation between adjacent tissues
Radiographic Contrast Media
Substances which increase beam
attenuation
Radiographic Contrast Media
Contrast media is needed because:
Soft tissue has a ____
absorption/interaction ratio
low
Absorption is dependent on
- atomic number
- atomic density
- part thickness
- K-shell binding energy (K-edge)
is the process of absorption
Photoelectric Interaction
An oral or intravenous administration of a contrast agents is often used to create a _______ between objects
temporary, artificial density difference
Goal of Contrast Agent
To give different tissues, which would ordinarily have similar attenuations, different attenuation coefficients making them more readily visible on the image
Types of Contrast Media
- Radiopaque/Positive Agent
- Radiolucent/Negative Agent
- Neutral Agents
- Radionuclides
Higher density than the tissue and absorbs radiation
Radiopaque/Positive Agent
Contrast agent appears more radiopaque (white) than surrounding tissues
Radiopaque/Positive Agent
High atomic number
Radiopaque/Positive Agent
Radiopaque/Positive Agent examples
Barium Sulfate and Iodinated (soluble)
Lower density than the surrounding tissue
Radiolucent/Negative Agent
Decrease density
Radiolucent/Negative Agent
Low atomic number
Radiolucent/Negative Agent
Organs with contrast agent becomes more radiolucent than surrounding tissues
Radiolucent/Negative Agent
X-rays penetrate more easily
Radiolucent/Negative Agent
Radiolucent/Negative Agent examples
Air and Carbon Dioxide
GI agents possess a density similar to water
Neutral Agents
Appears similar to surrounding tissues
Neutral Agents
Neutral Agents example
Water, VoLumen
low density form of barium sulfate suspension
VoLumen
emits radiation
Radionuclides
used in nuclear medicine
Radionuclides
Common Route of Administration
- Intravascular
- Gastrointestinal
Less Common Route of Administration
- Intrathecally
- Intraarticularly
subarachnoid space surrounding the spinal cord
Intrathecally
directly into a joint space
Intraarticularly
universally used for a variety of radiology examinations
Iodinated Agents
Iodinated Agents
- Water soluble
- Easy to administer intravascularly
- Have a high safety index
has high attenuation compared with human soft tissue, therefore, wherever it distributes it increases the ability of the enhanced structure to attenuate the x-ray beam
Intravascular Contrast Media
two tissues must differ by at least ___ Hounsfield units (HU) to be visibly different on a CT Scan
10
Proper administration of contrast media can easily provide a ___ HU increase in the natural difference of attenuation between tissues, thus making them visibly different in the image
40-75
Hounsfield Units of Bone
1000
Hounsfield Units of Liver
40 to 60
Hounsfield Units of White Matter
46
Hounsfield Units of Grey Matter
43
Hounsfield Units of Blood
40
Hounsfield Units of Muscle
10 to 40
Hounsfield Units of Kidney
30
Hounsfield Units of Cerebrospinal Fluid
15
Hounsfield Units of Water
0