Radiology employs the use of medical imaging to diagnose and treat nearly every type of disease and injury that exists. It is a vital part of the field of health care in that it improves the speed and accuracy of medical care. It is also critical to decreasing medical errors, patient recovery time and patient suffering.
Types
Radiology is used in four different ways. It is used for diagnosing illnesses and diseases, interventionist medicine, therapeutic medicine, and nuclear medicine. Diagnostic radiology uses medical equipment to determine whether a disease, illness or injury is present. Interventionist radiology involves using medical imaging equipment to guide doctors while they perform certain types of medical procedures. Radiation therapy is used to treat certain illnesses and diseases by targeting certain cells, such as cancer cells, to be exposed to and killed by radiation. Nuclear medicine involves administering medication that is radioactive into the body. This helps to give doctors a clear picture about the function of certain organs and body systems.
History
The history of radiology began in 1785 with the experimentation of William Morgan. During the 1850's, further experimentation was conducted using cathode rays. However, it wasn't until 1895 that Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered and named the x-ray. He is credited as the father of radiology and later won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. The findings of Roentgen's studies were duplicated by others which made his discovery more credible and popular. That lead to the Journal of the American Medical Association publishing an article on the medical use of radiology in 1896. However, in its early days radiology was very unsafe as there weren't adequate safety precautions taken to reduce exposure to radiation. Several practitioners died from having too much exposure to x-rays.
Benefits
The benefit of radiology is the fact that it allows doctors to see inside a patient in minimally invasive ways. This means that fewer people have to suffer through the pain and recovery of being cut open and sewed back together. Patients can benefit from faster recovery times in cases where surgery is necessary with the help of guided interventions involving radiology. Medical imaging also enables doctors to speed up the process of diagnosing and treating illnesses that formerly either went unnoticed or undiagnosed for longer periods of time. Radiology not only allows care to happen more quickly, but also more accurately by providing highly detailed and images in 3D and from several points of view.
Significance
Radiological technology is significant because it is used in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of every body system. Using this technology allows doctors to see inside the inside of the human body in ways that were never possible before the invention of radiological imaging equipment. Doctors can not only use radiology to see still images, but they can view organs working in real time. Radiology is used to treat and diagnose the top two causes of death in the United States today which are heart disease and cancer. It is also used to care for children that are still in the womb. Without the use of radiology, emergency care would also be compromised because the difference between life and death in sudden illness and injury often amounts to minutes or seconds.
Function
Radiographs or x-rays are used to view bones and soft body tissues. X-rays work by putting out electromagnetic rays on a part of the body. The rays go through the air and fat but do not go through more dense body parts like bone and tumors. This causes the x-ray film behind the body part to become exposed depending on which parts were struck by the x-rays. This type of radiological test is typically used to diagnose complications of the heart, lungs and bones.
Fluoroscopy is a type of radiology that is used to view body parts on a television screen in real time by swallowing or injecting a liquid that is radioactive. This type of test is used to evaluate the function of the intestines, heart, blood vessels and urinary tract. This radioactive liquid can also be used to make abnormal masses of tissue show up more easily.
CT scans, short for computed tomography, employ x-rays to make 3D images of the body. This type of radiological test is used in emergency situations where time is critical. Some examples include blood clots, rupture of the appendix and internal bleeding. CT scans are relied upon to provide quick and accurate diagnoses.
Ultrasound is a type of radiology that uses sound waves to make a picture of soft tissues of the body. This is the preferred method for viewing unborn babies because it does not use dangerous x-rays that can be harmful to the fetus. Ultrasound is used for many things including determining the gender of the child and detected any developmental abnormalities.
MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, uses magnetic fields to manipulate radio signals in order to create a picture of the body's internal structures. MRI is the preferred radiological imaging to view the body in different planes (from top to bottom or from front to back, etc.). MRI yields the best pictures of soft tissues and is often used to diagnose abnormalities in muscle, bone and the nervous system.
Nuclear medicine uses radioactive liquids injected into the body to see any illness or disease related to the function of organs and body systems. Nuclear medicine is used to determine stages of cancer, heart function and blood flow. It can also be used to scan bone.
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