CT, MRI, And PET: What We Must Know About These Scans

Imaging tests Imaging tests are powerful diagnostic tools that can make a doctor’s job much easier. Unlike in olden times, anything wrong inside the body can be traced in no time. With the sophisticated technology, medical procedures have become all the more invasive not only in terms of surgical operations but also in testing. There are many imaging tests available today and very often we might confuse one with another. Though these imaging tests might overlap in their functions here and there, they all differ in the substances they might use or the resolution they carry. Hence, it might be a good idea to go through some of them.X-rays An X-ray is the quickest and most painless imaging test that is used to produce images of the inside of the body. X-rays can pass through your body but they are absorbed in different rates by different parts of the body. They are obstructed by hard objects like a bone or a tumour and show up as white areas of the image. They are usually prescribed for fractures, tooth problems, lung infections, swallowing problems and even breast cancer.CT scan CT scan or a computerized tomography makes use of an X-ray and computer. Unlike X-ray, it is more invasive. They take a series of fast x-ray pictures which are put together to form a detailed image. Unlike an X-ray, it provides a computerized, 360 degrees view of the body structures. Detailed than X-rays, they are a perfect imaging tool in emergencies. More than fractures, they can be used to spot blood clots, blockages, organ injuries, size of tumours and others.MRI When more detailed images of the body parts are needed, MRI is recommended. It is more invasive than a CT scan. Unlike CT, it doesn’t make use of radiation but rather strong medical fields that interact with the body atoms and provide extremely detailed tissue-level pictures. This scan is very effective in detecting brain and spinal injuries, heart and blood vessels and other internal organs.PET scan Positron emission tomography (PET) scans produce detailed 3-dimensional images of the inside of the body. Unlike a CT scan, they not only show a detailed image of the internal organs but also how the tissues function at a cellular level. This imaging test can detect cancer at very early stages as it captures changes at the molecular levels.