CAT MRI MRI scans and CAT scans Emma Collins 9.Bronze

About MRI scans, An MRI or otherwise known as ‘Magnetic resonance imaging’ is a big machine made like a big doughnut. The patient lies inside the machine and get a certain part of your body photographed. MRI scans are a type of scan used to diagnose health conditions that affect organs, tissue and bone.

MRI Contrast Dye (Gadolinium) Some people undergoing an MRI scan may have an injection of an dye known as gadolinium, which is a substance visible on MRI scans. The substance is inserted into your vein in your arm through a small plastic tube known as an intravenous cannula. The Gadolinium dye is used to allow doctors to read the results of an MRI scan better.

How MRI scans work How the MRI works is radio waves 10,000 to 30,000 times stronger than the magnetic fields of the earth are sent through the body. This affects the body's atoms forcing the nuclei into a different position. As they move back into place they send out radio waves of their own. The MRI scanner picks these signals and then the computer turns them into a picture kind of like an x-ray.

Why are MRI scans loud? When you are undergoing an MRI scan you will be prepared for the noise. You will be required to where head phones throughout the procedure because of the loud noise the machine makes. The loud noises are because changing the magnetic field caused a build up of energy and then a lot of energy is released as sound waves.

What happens during an MRI scan? During an MRI scan you will be asked to lie on a flat bed which is then moved slowly into the scanning tube. It depends on which part of your body is being scanned but you will either be moved into it head first or feet first.

How the MRI scan affects the nervous system MRI scans are ideal for helping diagnose conditions that affect the brain and also the nervous system.

CAT scans Instead of finding the outline of bones and organs, a CAT scan machine forms a full three-dimensional computer model of a patient's insides.

What are some of the most common uses of the CAT scan? A CAT scan is one of the best scans to examine the chest, abdomen pelvis because the shows all types of tissue for the doctors to looks at. It is used to examine patients who have severe injures form motorcycle accidents. Looks at people who have abdominal paint or a hard time breathing It is often used to determine many different types of cancer such as lung, liver, kidney and pancreatic cancer.

Helps diagnose spinal problems and injuries to the hands, feet and other skeletal structures because it can show every bone even the small bones of the feet, also the surrounding tissues such as muscle and blood vessels. Because the image allows the doctor to be able to see if there is or isn't a tumour, also be able to see the size of it the exact location. It plays a big role in the diagnosis of vascular diseases that can lead to stroke, kidney failure or even death.

What does it look like? The CT scanner is typically a large, box-like machine with a hole, or short tunnel, in the centre.

Bibliography: http://www.melbourneradiology.com.au/fact-sheets/mri-magnetic-resonance-imaging.html http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/examinations/mriscan.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_resonance_imaging http://www.hkllp.com/gadolinium-contrast-dyes/ http://science.howstuffworks.com/cat-scan.htm www.nhs.uk/Conditions/MRI-scan/Pages/What-is-it-used-for.aspx http://www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk/encyclopaedia/m/article/mriscan/ http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=bodyct