Introduction to Radiology Flashcards
radiology
a field of medicine devoted to creating images of patients for diagnosis & treatment
residency training lasts 4 years, plus a preliminary medicine year
types of medical images:
non-visible radiation
the realm of radiology - xrays, magnetic fields, sound waves, nuclear particles, etc.
what a radiologist does
supervises the acquisition of medical images & interprets the results of these studies
use imaging techniques to treat patients
modality
a means of obtaining radiographic images
modalities:
conventional radiographs:
aka ___
obtained by ___
___ absorb a lot of photons, whereas ___ absorbs few
traditionally displayed w/ ___ objects appearing ___
x-rays or “plain films”
shining high-energy photons through a patient & measuring how they’re absorbed by the patient’s tissues
dense objects such as bones, air in the lungs (ex.)
dense, white
modalities:
conventional radiographs:
the direction that the photons travel through the patient determines ___
most commonly, we use ___ & ___ orientations
sometimes, objects lying on top of or near patients will ___, called ___
___ is the most frequent culprit
what the resulting image will look like
frontal (front-to-back), lateral (side-to-side)
absorb some of the photons & interfere w/ our image, “artifact” interference
metal
modalities: computed tomography (CT):
a technique derived from ___
instead of shining photons from one side of the patient to the other, CT ___ & uses that information to determine ___
the resulting images look as though the patient has been ___
conventional radiographs
shines photons from all different angles, how dense the tissue is at each point in the body
sliced horizontally into a stack of thin sections
modalities: computed tomography (CT):
we often manipulate the ___ of certain anatomic structures by administering ___ (___) to the patient
different means of administering ___, & different types of ___, can be combined to enhance the visualization of various anatomic structures
density, dense substances (“contrast agents”)
contrast, contrast
modalities:
the radiation used in x-rays & in CT is ___ & can cause ___
dangerous, cnacer
modalities:
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI):
patients are placed into a ___ & their ___ align with the ___
then, the patient is bombarded w/ ___ to knock the ___ out of alignment, & we measure how long it takes them to ___
strong magnetic field, hydrogen nuclei, field
electromagnetic radiation, hydrogen nuclei, return to alignment
modalities:
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI):
much more ___ than CT, & it provides a lot more ___ at substantially greater ___
it’s also harder to ___
versatile, information, cost
interpret
modalities:
fluoroscopy:
uses a continuous stream of ___ to produce an ___
although the images are less ___ than an x-ray, the additional information gained from sequential images can be ___
this technique is useful for structures that ___
radiation, x-ray movie
crisp & clear, very important
move unpredictably
modalities:
ultrasound:
uses ___ to produce images
these are bounced off of the patient’s ___, & the ___ are used to construct images
ultrasound is very popular in other countries b/c its ___ relative to other modalities, but the images are ___
it has specific uses in areas where other modalities are ___
sound waves
tissues, echoes
inexpensive, less appealing to the eye
inexact
modalities:
nuclear medicine:
different form other modalities b/c it measures ___, not ___
radioactive molecules that are chemically similar to ___ are given to the patient
the radioactivity is used to make an image that shows where the ___ are accumulating in the body
physiology, anatomy
normal blood elements
radioactive molecules
modalities:
angiography:
a form of ___ in which ___ material (“___”) is injected directly into blood vessels
we obtain images over ___ to watch how the blood is ___, & to create images of the insides of the vessels
the most ___ of the modalities b/c it requires that a ___ (a long plastic tube) be positioned inside the blood vessels
fluoroscopy, dense, contrast
time, flowing
invasive, catheter
