MRI and Its Many Applications: Using MRI in Diagnosing Blood Clots

Deep vein thrombosis, more popularly known as a blood clot, is a type of clump that occurs when the blood hardens and turns solid or semi-solid. It can be caused by poor dietary habits, injuries, or an infected body part. It causes vascular obstruction, and could prove dangerous if not treated in a timely manner. Blood clot can be present in different areas of the body like the arm, leg, heart, abdomen, and lungs.

How physicians diagnose blood clots

When diagnosing a blood clot in a patient, the physician considers the individual’s risk factors, symptoms, and test results of the imaging method used to see the clot. Possible imaging tools used to detect blood clots include Doppler ultrasound, veneography, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), MRA (magnetic resonance angiography), and CT (computerized typography) scans, and the D-dimer blood test.

Cancer Immunotherapy Responses and How a PET Scan Can Predict Them

Many years ago, cancer is almost impossible to cure. Those who have been diagnosed with it almost immediately lose hope because of the absence of reliable remedy. Today, various treatment methods are now accessible. The latest and arguably the safest and with least impact on healthy cells is immunotherapy. This involves directly or indirectly using the immune system to fight off cancer cell growth.

The Important Role of MRI Scans in Diagnosing Certain Eye Disorders

More often than not, ophthalmologists are able to make diagnoses on particular eye conditions based on physical signs and symptoms alone. There are instances, however, that a thorough analysis of a patient’s eye is necessary to identify the main cause of their eye problems.

Here, imaging technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging becomes an indispensable diagnostic tool. Though it’s one of the two main imaging modalities used for ophthalmology purposes, MRI poses better benefits for the patient.

Patients Can Avoid Negative Chemotherapy Side Effects Through PET Scan

Chemotherapy is the primary method of cancer treatment. The procedure uses drugs designed to kill fast-growing cancer cells. Inadvertently, however, chemo drugs can also damage healthy cells throughout the body, causing certain side effects. Most common of these are fatigue, hair loss, infection, anemia, nausea, easy bruising, constipation, diarrhea, appetite or weight changes, fertility problems and more.

For patients diagnosed with lymphoma, there is hope for avoiding side effects yet. A new study from the New England Journal of Medicine has found that PET scan can spare patients the severe secondary effects.

MRI for Spines: Using MRI Scans To Detect Abnormalities of the Spine

The spine is perhaps one of the most vital parts of the body. Not only does it protects the thin and fibrous spinal cord, but it also supports the entire body. It’s only important, then, to diagnose possible problems with your spine before it gets worse. One way of detecting abnormalities with the spine is by undergoing a spinal MRI scan.

Assessing Spinal Structures

MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, makes use of radio waves, a magnetic field, and a computer in producing detailed pictures of the spine and its surrounding tissues. The images produced by MRI scans will then be assessed, and an anatomical cause of the patient’s back pain can be determined.

How PET Scans Benefit Medical Patients with Neurological Conditions

The technology behind positron-emission tomography (PET) scans has evolved considerably in the last few years. Especially in the area of neuroimaging, PET scans have provided physicians with clear two- and three-dimensional pictures of brain activity, allowing for precision treatment plans better suited to a patient’s current needs.

Neurological applications of PET scans

Early medical applications of PET scan technology were almost exclusively for the brain. By measuring low-level radioactive isotopes injected into the bloodstream, brain PET scans were able to reveal tumors and diseased tissue in the brain, as well as show the speed of blood flow, and cellular and/or tissue metabolism. 

MRI Before Epilepsy Surgery Can Help Protect The Brain from Damage

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a diagnostic procedure that makes use of large magnets and radio frequencies to produce a highly detailed image of the body’s inner workings. It can be used to take images of various parts of the body, including the brain.

A functional MRI of the brain is used to determine where exactly in the brain certain functions—such as memory, speech, or muscle movement—occurs. By determining the exact location of the functional area of the brain, physicians can map out the proper treatment for a particular brain disorder.