As this year’s NFL football season comes to a close, many people are eagerly anticipating the Super Bowl. However, the physical damage the players suffer on the field will continue long after the games are over. A sad example of this comes from a young man from Indiana who was permanently injured playing high school football. He suffered a ...

Many people don’t know the differences between CT and MRI and when each should be used. I have to say I was one of those people until I attended the proper schooling. Patients often mistake the two machines upon entering the CT room, reaching quickly for their metal objects. This would give us all a little laugh. Most trauma patients go right ...

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been researching hospitals that order too many CT scans. They particularly looked at the ordering of “double scans” or two scans ordered for the same patient; one with a contrast agent and the other without. “Such double scans are rarely necessary, and expose patients to 700 times as much ...

In Hanover, VA a judge has a difficult decision in front of him. A man has been charged with first degree murder and has been declared competent to stand trial. However, his family has recently come forward with information that he might have brain damage.The only way to know for certain is for him to undergo a neurological examination including ...

It is with great anticipation that many Americans welcome opening day of the 2012 NFL Season. With all of the fun that comes with tailgates and parties, the health of these athletes must not be overlooked. The American Academy of Neurology just released a study that confirms previously held beliefs “… that head injuries cause neurologic ...

As the NFL preseason gives way to the regular season, we are reminded of the important role that imaging plays in sports. Michael Vick, of the Philadelphia Eagles, injured his ribs and left thumb in his last two games. He received x-rays of his ribs and his thumb while still at the stadiums. Both came up negative. Later in the week Vick ...

The more people I talk to about CT the more aware I have become that they do not know the differences between CT and MRI. They often think they are the same modality. I have been trying to educate people about the many ways in which they differ. If any of you watch the show Breaking Bad on AMC you know that the main character, Walt, has ...

Despite concerns of radiation exposure, the use of CT scans is on the rise. There's also an increase in patients receiving MRIs and ultrasounds. Researchers have been following millions of patients from six large HMOs from the time period 1996-2010. In an average year, $100 billion is spent on medical imaging. The results found that patients had ...

By Patrick K. Lynch, CBET, CCE Hello.This is the first of what I hope are many opportunities I will have to talk with you. Let me use this first installment to tell you a little about me and why you may benefit from reading this blog. I live in Charlotte (actually just across the border in South Carolina) and work as a clinical engineer. I have ...

An article this week comes to us from the University of California at Irvine that may hold the secret to dramatically decreasing radiation doses for CT and PET scans. The mathematicians behind this innovative idea ''have developed an algorithmic method that would slash by nearly 90% the raw data needed to create life saving medical images ...