Since many people don’t know the difference between CT and MRI, I was wondering if patients who get a CT even know about the radiation risks. I found a study that addresses this issue. A large medical center surveyed 235 patients who underwent either a CT or PET-CT. Researchers found that one third of patients receiving scans did not realize ...

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 ...

Veterinary diagnostic imaging has sure come a long way, baby. The University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine is looking for feline subjects who have a recent diagnosis of congestive heart failure (CHF) or a respiratory illness. The study is examining the use of diagnostic methods that involve minimal stress for cats. X-rays and ...

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is an ailment that makes it hard for a person to breath. It is the 4th major cause of death in the United States. This disease can be caused from smoking on a regular basis, air pollution, or chemical fumes. It is a debilitating illness that gets worse over time and eventually makes it difficult for the ...

I continue to be intrigued by stories that discuss CT scans on unusual subjects. The most recent article I read talks about the dental and sinus health of a young man who was mummified and lived about 2,100 years ago in Egypt. “He had numerous abscesses and cavities, conditions that appear to have resulted, at some point, in a sinus ...

An unusual story came out of Richmond, VA this week. A woman who had a CT scan for abdominal pain with both PO and IV contrasts had an odd reaction. She claims the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet turned orange and became very dry about 15-20 minutes after the scan.Several days after the scan she went back to the hospital for some ...

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 ...

We all know about the dangers of radiation from CT scans but what about the radiation that is emitted from our cell phones. Many of us have our phones on us at all times and we feel as if we can’t live without them. What if they are causing us more harm than good. Previous studies have shown that there is such a small amount of radiation ...

The May/June 2012 CT Edition of the Journal of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists has an excellent article about stroke and CT perfusion. The information outlined is invaluable to any technologist who has to perform perfusion scans. When they started doing them at my former hospital I received very little training on how to ...

Imagine for a moment that you are a doctor working in a remote village in South America. You want to quickly and effectively assess a number of patients who are presenting with similar symptoms. Thanks to Aydogan Ozcan and his colleagues at UCLA you can. They have developed rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to make this screening process incredibly ...