Catscan Essay, Research Paper

I chose this topic because I a found it as a very interesting thing which I wanted to know more about. I have been CT-scanned when I had concussion after a car accident when I was seven. Also because my father has been under a CT-scanner and a lot of my friends.

Anatomists, morphologists and biologists have tried to understand the way living creatures are living, and what they look like inside. Dr. Frourie in 1974 painfully cut organisms into thin slices, to study their internal arrangement to better understand them. Today, these people use CT scanners instead. It is a lot easier, less bloody, takes shorter time and the sample is not affected or destroyed during the procedure- the advantages are numerous. This technique enables us to visualize the inside of us humans, organisms or other objects in 3-D geometry.

CTscans stands for Computed Tomography . It is a way of looking inside your body using a special camera. It is an advanced scanning x-ray and computer system that makes detailed pictures of horizontal cross-sections of the body, or the part of the body that is x-rayed. A CT scan is a diagnostic test that combines the use of x-ray with computer technology. A series of x-beams from many different angles are used to get these cross-sectional images of the patient s body. In a computer, these pictures are assembled into a 3-dimentianal picture that can display organs, tissues, bones, and any such thing. It can even show ducts, blood vessels and tumors. One of the advantages of CT is that it clearly shows soft tissue structures (such as brain), as well as dense tissue structure (such as bone). The pictures of a Ctscanner are a lot more detailed than the pictures of a regular X-ray machine. It can make pictures of areas protected or surrounded by bones, which a regular X-ray machine can not. Because of this, a CT scanner is said to be 100 times as affective and clever as an ordinary X-ray, and can therefore diagnose some diseases a lot earlier and quicker. It is recent technology that has made it possible to accurately scan objects into a computer in three dimensions, even though the machines and ideas were developed in the 1970s. In the 70s doctors started to use this new type of machine that could give detailed pictures of organs that the older type of x-ray, machine could not give.

Two separate systems are being used when doing this. The first one is a laser digitizer, which is designed to make an exact model of the object by measuring the outside surface by reflecting laser light off of it. The scan process is called Computed Tomography (CT), which can make measurements of the inside of an object. Both these two devices were originally designed for manufacturing. Today, similar techniques have been applied to industrial applications.

The CT scanner has a source of x-rays. It shoots a thin beam of high-energy wave thorough the body from many different angles. On the opposite side of the body being scanned, there is a x-ray detector that measures the rays that pass through. This results in an image displaying density differences at each point in a two-dimensional slice through the object. Each slice represents a certain thickness. The density of x-ray through a beam before the rays enters the object and after they have after they have passed though it are measured. Then the turntable table rotates slightly, and the same process is repeated. Now, it is the computer s turn, to analyze the data from the detector and create an image on a television screen. It stacks the two-dimensional images together to form a 3-dimensinal map.

Briefly and simply described, a CT scanner is a x-ray device that scans the object from all angles and records the density and thickness of the materials. The images (or pictures) produced are cross-sectional, like the crisps of a potato. The final image is called a Computed tomogram or CT slice and is displayed on a cathode-ray tube (CRT), which is a divise similar to a television picture tube and screen. A CT scan can be stored on a magnetic tape or optical disk.

The CT scanner contains a large donut-shaped ring that your body slowly passes through, on a moveable table. Whilst passing though the ring, the scanner takes a complete 3609 degrees picture of you, which is sent to a computer. The machine, which is linked to a computer, rotates around the patient. The mechanical table moves a little distance, about a centimeter or less, positioning you for the next picture. These pictures can be reconstructed by the computer to form a complete image of your internal anatomy.

Sometimes when you want a clearer picture the use of a contrast material is required, which are substances shown up as pure white on the xray. There are two types of contrast materials used: barium, which you usually drink, and iodine, which is usually injected by means of an I.V. (intravenous).

The time of the examination depends on the part off the body being scanned. It could take from 15 minut4eed to an hour, and it is then very important that you do not move. Patients who have abdominal CTscans will be asked to hold their breath for a while for each scan. Spiral CT scans have decreased the time it takes to produce tomograpich pictures. Some people are concerned about the radiation they receive during a Ctscan. It is true that radiation exposure is slightly higher than from a regular x-ray. However, not having the procedure can be more risky than having it. If cancer is suspected, patients must weigh the risks and benefits.

My conclusion of this is that it has helped a lot of people through at the last years and doctors can get to their conclusions quicker. They can help people with diseases a lot more effectively.