chapter 1 Flashcards
what is the equation for image resolution?
image resolution (mmpixel^-1)= actual size (mm)/ number of pixels (pixel)
what is a pixel?
the smallest thing you can resolve in a digital image
what is the wave equation?
velocity= frequency x wavelength
how are x-rays produced?
high speed electrons are fired onto a photographic cassette through the body. Bones absorb the radiation more than the less dense soft tissue and so a negative image is shown on the picture
how do MRI’S work?
Magnetic resonance imaging- you lie in a strong magnetic field and radio-frequency waves are directed at your body. The water molecules in your body act was tiny magnets which are very sensitive to magnetic fields- the protons line up in the same direction.Short bursts of radio waves are sent to certain areas of the body, knocking protons out of alignment.when the radio waves are turned off, the protons realign and in doing so send out radio signals which are picked up by receivers. Different tissues form different relaxation times so that areas of the body can be distinguished on the image
how do gamma ray tracers work?
a radioactive source is injected or swallowed into/by the patient. this radiation penetrates the body tissues and can be detected externally. The areas which absorb lots of glucose eg the thyroid emit more radiation and so are detected
how does an STM work?
Scanning Tunneling Microscope. Non- optical microscope that works by scanning an electrical probe top over the surface of a sample at a constant spacing. This allows for a 3D picture of the surface to be created.
wavelength of visible light?
400nm (4x10^-7)-> 700nm(7x10^-7)
red–> violet
protons and neutrons are made of what?
quarks
what is the size of quarks/electrons?
10^-18m
order of the electromagnetic spectrum?
radio waves, microwaves, infra-red waves, visible light, UV, x-rays, gamma
wavelength of microwaves?
10^-1 -> 10^-3 m
wavelength of radiowaves?
10^6–> 10^-1 m
wavelength of infrared?
10^-3–> 10^-6 m
wavelength of uv?
10^-7 –> 10^-8 m
wavelength of x-rays?
10^-8 –> 10^-10 m
wavelength of gamma rays?
10^-10–> 10^-12 m
define period
the time taken for 1 complete wave
frequency=
1/T
how does ultrasound imaging work?
a change in density shows how much will be transmitted and how much will be reflected so you put a gel on the stomach with the same density as the skin so that the ultrasound can pass through and not be reflected. short pulses of sound are sent out from the scanner which is held in contact with the mother’s belly.
the pulses are reflected back where the density of the tissue changes. bone is a good reflector of sound.sound comes back to the scanner from the different parts of the baby, each part producing its own characteristic reflection
what’s acoustic independence (AI)?
dependent on the density of the material in which sound is propagated- the greater the independence the denser the material
where do reflections come from in ultrasound imaging?
from the interface of different AI’s- the greater change pf the AI, the more signal reflected
what’s a transducer?
transmits and receives the ultrasound waves?
what produces ultrasound waves? how?
ultrasound pulse is a pulse containing just a few oscillations produced by a piezoelectric crystal. Ultrasound is generated by rapid electric oscillations applied to a piezoelectric crystal. When the ultrasound pulse returns and vibrates the crystal, it produces a signal that is picked up by the scanner
what type of waves are ultrasound waves?
longitudinal
can you explain how the darkness level on the grey scale is determined by the imaging method?
the number for each pixel decides what shade of grey that pixel will be printed. Darker regions correspond with larger numbers in the array (the date for the image)
what’s the speed of sound in air?
330-340 ms^-1
what is the speed of sound in soft human tissue?
1500ms^-1 (0.67 micro s per mm)
why must the frequency of the ultrasound wave be greater than 1MHz?
because the depths to be ‘sounded’ are only about 100mm, and ultrasound travels at high speed taking about 70 micro seconds to go 100mm in soft tissue. Thus the delay times are short. The pulses must be only about 1 micro second long if returning pulses are not to overlap outgoing ones. The time of an oscillation of the wave cannot be longer than the time the pulse exists so the frequency must exceed 1MHz= 1million oscillations per second
why is ultrasound ultra-inaudible?
because the highest frequency you can hear is about 20KHz