Medicine is always looking for a way to find disease earlier and less invasively. While the future is full of the desire to eradicate disease through genetics or stem cell research, right now being able to look into the body is one of the best things the medical field has. One of the revolutionary technological leaps that allows for great insight into the body is the MRI machine.
MRIs are not the only imaging on the market, usurping x-rays and other kinds of imaging. No, there is a niche for the MRI and they are not appropriate for all patients. This Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) creates detailed internal images through the use of magnets and radio waves.
The magnetic field of an MRI interacts with the actual atoms of the human body and then a radio frequency is applied that changes the magnetic field. This causes the atomic nuclei to actually create a rotating field that is detected by the field and translates this to an image.
The difference with an MRI created image is that it is fantastic at looking at soft tissues, which are very difficult to image with an x-ray machine. The accuracy and crispness of the image makes this technology particularly well suited for the brain, muscles, and heart. In terms of cancer, tumors themselves are soft and so with MRIs you can find them when they are at their smallest.
There is more than one type of MRI scan as the technology has evolved since its inception. When you can look at soft tissue with such clarity, why not push the boundaries? Functional MRI scans look at real time changes in the brain's signaling due to neuronal activity. Why is this helpful? You can see the influence of certain drugs on the brain as it is processing - this can only be helpful in shaping future treatments.
Being able to see into the body without slicing it open is really a new frontier for medicine. The history of medicine has never been one for subtlety and with the advent of technologies like the MRI scan, doctors can make headway without the sort of stumbles that mire some advancements like the lobotomy did for psychiatry.
Are their downsides to the MRI machine? The only real downside is the discomfort that some patients can feel during the actual scan. This is because patients are, for all intents and purposes, shoved into a tube that is not very wide, told not to make noise or move, and are bombarded by the loud and obnoxious noise of the magnet. For most this is an inconvenience, but for some this can be claustrophobia triggering. To combat this there are now open air MRIs, but no matter which machine you use, the images that are created can be the difference between life and death.
MRI Machine
MRIs are not the only imaging on the market, usurping x-rays and other kinds of imaging. No, there is a niche for the MRI and they are not appropriate for all patients. This Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) creates detailed internal images through the use of magnets and radio waves.
The magnetic field of an MRI interacts with the actual atoms of the human body and then a radio frequency is applied that changes the magnetic field. This causes the atomic nuclei to actually create a rotating field that is detected by the field and translates this to an image.
The difference with an MRI created image is that it is fantastic at looking at soft tissues, which are very difficult to image with an x-ray machine. The accuracy and crispness of the image makes this technology particularly well suited for the brain, muscles, and heart. In terms of cancer, tumors themselves are soft and so with MRIs you can find them when they are at their smallest.
There is more than one type of MRI scan as the technology has evolved since its inception. When you can look at soft tissue with such clarity, why not push the boundaries? Functional MRI scans look at real time changes in the brain's signaling due to neuronal activity. Why is this helpful? You can see the influence of certain drugs on the brain as it is processing - this can only be helpful in shaping future treatments.
Being able to see into the body without slicing it open is really a new frontier for medicine. The history of medicine has never been one for subtlety and with the advent of technologies like the MRI scan, doctors can make headway without the sort of stumbles that mire some advancements like the lobotomy did for psychiatry.
Are their downsides to the MRI machine? The only real downside is the discomfort that some patients can feel during the actual scan. This is because patients are, for all intents and purposes, shoved into a tube that is not very wide, told not to make noise or move, and are bombarded by the loud and obnoxious noise of the magnet. For most this is an inconvenience, but for some this can be claustrophobia triggering. To combat this there are now open air MRIs, but no matter which machine you use, the images that are created can be the difference between life and death.
MRI Machine
No comments:
Post a Comment