Diagnostic medical imaging students must learn operate x-ray and CAT scan technologies, as well as other forms of imaging equipment.
Medical professionals use diagnostic imaging equipment to locate and identify causes of illness or injury within a patient. There are several types of diagnostic imaging procedures available, ranging from ultrasounds to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures. Medical professionals must attend formal postsecondary training to become ultrasound technicians, radiographers or diagnostic medical imaging specialists. While enrolled in such programs, they must learn use diagnostic imaging machines through laboratory and clinical courses.
Medical Resonance Imaging Equipment
Diagnostic medical technicians are often trained to use medical resonance imaging, or MRI, equipment and procedures to record images of a patients' organs, bones and other interior structures. MRI machines are most commonly shaped like a large tube with a hollow space in the center for the patient to rest. The machine uses radio waves and a magnetic field to take images of the patient lying at its center. While enrolled in a diagnostic imaging course, students must learn prepare patients for MRI tests, insert an intravenous line into the arm of a patient, and operate the machine during the test. MRI tests can determine if patients are suffering from chest problems, tumors, cysts, reproductive abnormalities, breast cancer and other conditions.
Sonography Equipment
Ultrasound technicians and sonographers are two other types of diagnostic medical imaging professionals who use imaging equipment to diagnose certain illnesses. Sonography equipment primarily uses sound waves to record images of the interior of a patient's body. Students enrolled in a sonography or ultrasound technician degree certificate program learn use the various components of an ultrasound machine. These include the transducer probe that transmits sound waves, the keyboard that transmits data to a display, and the central processing unit that calculates the sound waves coming through the transducer probe. Obstetrics ultrasound technicians use medical imaging equipment to check on the prenatal health of unborn babies.
Computed Tomography Equipment
Computed Tomography (CT) scans are another form of medical imaging procedure used for diagnostic purposes in hospitals and physicians' offices. A CT system can take flat x-ray images and turn them into 2-D and 3-D cross-sectional images, which can produce more in-depth scans of blood vessels and soft tissue in addition to bone and organs. Often referred to as a CAT scan, a test performed by CT equipment is non-invasive and can help to more easily diagnose infectious diseases, cancers and trauma to the interior system. Laboratory training with CT equipment can provide students with the clinical, hands-on experience necessary to perform CAT scans in a medical setting.
Tags: medical imaging, imaging equipment, diagnostic imaging, must learn, sound waves
