High Tech Testing

1
High Tech Testing
Some of the test machines and formulas that we
use to figure all sorts of ailments
By Anthony Tyler pd5
2
In today's society we use medical testing for
many different reasons. Reasons could range from
having to see the bones in your body that need to
be repaired after an accident, or to checking
your body to see if you have a certain disease
that could be life threatening. In my project I
will choose 3 different types of medical
procedures dealing with the brain and nervous
system and briefly describe what the procedures
are for them, how they are used, and how it can
be treated, if it is bad.
3
Doctors today have many different ways of testing
your body in order to find out if you have any
neurological problems with your body. One
test in particular may be the Angiography.
The Angiography test is a test that
neurologist use to determine the
degree of narrowing of an artery in the head
or neck, or it can be used to detect
the location and size of aneurysms and
vascular malformations in the body.
This test is done by injecting a material
into the body that allows radiopaque x-rays to be
taken. This gives doctors a map of all the veins
and arteries in the head, neck and brain. They
then take a catheter into the major artery near
the groin and direct it "upstream" to the
arteries near the brain. Doesnt sound to
peaceful but it helps to find
out whats wrong with you. Doctors
can also use the Catheter to empty out the
bladder of any urine if you
are terminally ill and cant do it on your
own.
4
Another very common type of testing that is used
to find out problems with the heart, and brain,
but mostly the brain is the CT Scan or CAT Scan.
This test uses an x-ray beam and a computer to
generate 2 dimensional images of your body,
focusing mainly on the head and spine. CT Scans
detect spinal narrowing or herniated discs. They
also detect brain damage in people with head
trauma, blood clots, brain tumors, enlarged brain
ventricles, and bleeding in patients with a
ruptured or leaking aneurysm. This test is a
very good one but most likely very costly. This
test even shows the smallest bones in the body.
This test is a very fast one that doesnt hurt a
bit. This test is also a better one because you
are exposed to less radiation. For the CAT Scan
you lay on a table supported by pillows to hold
you still, and go into a square machine with a
donut-like hole in the center. While inside you
x-rays are taken of the body which takes no more
than 45 min at the most.
5
The last type of test I will talk about today, is
a test that I am very unfamiliar with myself. It
is called the Nuclear Imaging - PET (Positron
Emission Tomography) and SPECT (Single Photon
Emission Computed Tomography) Scans. They are
also types of scan where the patient lies on a
scanning table while a ring-shaped machine is
positioned over the target area of the body, and
takes in information on that certain part. The
PET Scan determines, if a tumor is benign or
malignant, biological functions of an organ, and
also subtle metabolic changes in the body. The
PET scan uses a machine called a cyclotron, which
is an accelerator that propels charged particles
using alternating voltage in a magnetic field to
generate radioisotopes in the body. This is done
by first injecting a dye into the body, for a
specific function, which manifests itself around
one place in the body. The machine then notices
that dye and takes pictures of it. The SPECT
Scan is used to determine blood flow to tissue,
which helps discover how well and organ may be
working. It is very sensitive and useful in
detecting stress fractures, and tumors. Just
like the PET Scan, a radionuclide is injected
into the body for a specific function, and then
the machine examines that area. The images for
this test are projected as cross-sections of the
body and can be rendered into a 3-D format

6
Bibliography
http//www.clinicalcardiology.org/briefs/200101bri
efs/cc24-089.images.html  
http//www.neurosurgery.org/health/patient/answers
.asp?DisorderID77
http//www.macalester.edu/psych/whathap/UBNRP/Ima
ging/pet.html
http//www.medexpert.net/medinfo/catscan.htm