Medical Imaging Procedures

Posted by numericalchaos , Friday, July 2, 2010 11:12 PM

Various imaging procedures are used in assessment of normal and pathological conditions.

1. X-rays : The earliest medical imaging procedure first done by Roentgen when he took a radiograph of his wife's hand.

There are a number of modern variations of the radiograph procedure modified to suit the conditions of the structures to be analysed. The commonest examples are barium contrast & double contrast studies involving both barium sulfate & air, intravascular radiography using iodine contrast media, and urography. Subtraction angiogrphy is another modified radiographic procedure done to study the coronary vessels.

2. Ultrasound & Ultrasonography : The preferred choice for fetal imaging procedures.

3. Computed Tomography : Invented by Godfrey Hounsfield in 1979, which involves taking a series of images in axial plane by passing the body through a tunnel which emits X-rays.

4. Magnetic Resonance Imaging : Wherein the body is subjected to a magnetic field and the effect of this field on hydrogen protons is studied to obtain images of various structures, a procedure particularly used widely in brain studies.

5. Nuclear Medicine Imaging : Which uses gamma rays instead of x-rays, with the most common radionuclide used to generate gamma rays being technetium 99m.

6. Positron Emission Tomography : A special procedure which involves detecting positron emitting radionuclides, the commonest used being fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). These studies have become highly important in cancer management.

Anatomical Position & Movement

Posted by numericalchaos , Sunday, June 27, 2010 1:34 AM

All descriptions of the human body are made with the assumption that it is in the anatomical postion, a position in which the body is erect and standing with the arms by the side with the palms facing forward.

Three planes of the body - the median sagittal, the coronal and the transverse or horizontal plane.

Other important positional anatomical terms -

  • anterior - front and posterior - back
  • palmar and dorsal, dorsal and plantar (anterior and posterior equivalents when describing the hands and feet respectively)
  • proximal and distal (describing relative distances from the root of limbs)
  • internal and external (referring to the relative distance from the center)
  • ipsilateral and contralateral (referring to same and opposite sides)
  • supine - laying on the back and prone - laying on the belly
Movements of the Body in the anatomical position
  • Flexion and Extension - movements that are in the sagittal plane and in opposite directions. Lateral flexion is a special type of flexion of the trunk of the body which happens in the coronal plane.
  • Abbduction and Adduction - movements that are in the coronal plane and in opposite directions.
  • Rotation - Medial and Lateral
  • Pronation and Supination - special terms pertaining to movements of the forearms
  • Circumduction
  • Protraction and retraction - special terms pertaining to movements of the jaw
  • Inversion and Eversion - special terms pertaining to movements of the feet
  • Opposition - A special movement of the thumb in which it approximates to the little finger

Medical Meanderings

Posted by numericalchaos 1:29 AM

These are the notes and scribblings of a future scholar of asclepian mysteries.

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