Thursday, September 6, 2012

Health Care Professionals Can Diagnose Quickly With A Denver MRI Scan

By Kerri Turner


X-ray was the only scanning equipment for decades until the Denver MRI scanner was invented. Clinicians had to rely on less detailed pictures to make diagnoses. However, for certain afflictions, the pictures created were not detailed enough and often inconclusive when trying to investigate problems with organs and blood vessels. When the MRI scan arrived, diagnosis times and patient recovery periods were shortened considerably.

Although the first scanners were made available to doctors in the 1980s, the basic technology was developed in the 1940s by Bloch and Purcell. Their work was renowned across the world and resulted in them jointly receiving the Nobel prize for physics in 1952. There work was developed over the following forty years until working machines were introduced into hospitals, giving physicians the most detailed pictures of inside the human body ever seen.

The system works by taking cross-sectional pictures of the human body. Instead of using X-rays, like a CT scan, it uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to gather its pictures. X-ray is still used widely for looking at the musculoskeletal system, however, MRI provides excellent pictures of the spine, brain and abdomen. It is also possible to study the blood vessels of a person through the use of magnetic resonance angiography, which is often referred to as MRA.

The brain is often scanned using MRI equipment due to the organ's complex nature. Where people have been suffering with chronic headaches, seizures and loss of senses, an MRI scan can be given immediately to give the fastest diagnosis possible. A scan of the brain usually requires the patient to wear a metal coil on the head to allow for the most detailed pictures possible.

The technology is extremely popular with spinal surgeons and chiropractors. It is very effective in the investigation of spinal problems and is used to locate herniated disks and stenosis of the spine. Many clinicians will opt for this type of scan before any other investigation if the patient has a history of spinal problems.

Where a patient is suffering with abdominal pain or discomfort, it is highly likely the technology will be used of the problem persists. The pictures of the liver, pancreas and kidneys are extremely detailed and can assist in a very quick diagnosis. Scans are also given to women with problems conceiving children as the pictures of reproductive organs are very detailed.

Angiography is used where the problem of the patient is suspected to originate in the blood vessels. If someone is suspected of having a stroke, the scan is used to check for narrowing of the vessels in the neck and the head. Arteries in and around the kidneys are also often examined using this technique.

A Denver MRI scan is completely safe for most people and does not pose the same health risks as an X-ray scan. However, the magnetic element of the scan can move metal in the body. Metal may include pacemakers, pins and bolts and metal plates used on badly broken bones. The physician will always ask the patient if metal is present in the body when preparing the person for the examination.




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