What is Radiology?
Radiology is a branch of medicine that uses imaging technology to diagnose and treat disease. Radiology may be divided into two different areas, diagnostic radiology and interventional radiology. Doctors who specialize in radiology are called radiologists.
Why is Radiology Important?
In many cases, early diagnosis can save lives, including those of patients diagnosed with cancer. Family doctors and emergency care physicians cannot effectively manage patients without diagnostic imaging, which is why they rely on radiology to find the right diagnosis and course of treatment.
Every sector within the healthcare field relies on radiology, including:
- Surgery
- Pediatrics
- Obstetrics
- Oncology
- Trauma-response
- Emergency medicine
- Infectious disease
What Is Radiology Used for?
Radiology is used for a wide range of conditions, and is classified depending on the type of radiology and the exact imaging test used. The various imaging exams include:
- Radiographs: X-rays to look at bones, the chest or the abdomen.
- CT (Computed Tomography): A CT captures multiple x-ray angles of the patient using a doughnut-shaped machine, then creates computer-processed images.
- MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging): An MRI uses magnetic fields and radio waves with computer processing to create images.
- Mammograms: Specially powered x-rays that look at breast tissues.
- Ultrasound: An ultrasound uses sound waves to create moving images that display on a monitor, commonly used for echocardiograms and examining the womb during pregnancy.
- Fluoroscopy: X-rays that make moving images of the body in real time. This imaging is crucial for many procedures, especially those involving the gastrointestinal tract.
- Nuclear medicine: These are short-acting radioactive substances that generate light from bodily processes. A camera collects the light, so a computer can process it and develop an image.
Services Provided
Mammogram
X-ray images of the breast are used in mammograms. Mammograms are used by doctors to look for breast cancer early symptoms. The best test available to doctors to detect breast cancer early, often up to three years before it can be felt, is a routine mammography.
Screening mammography reduces the risk of death due to breast cancer
Screening mammography improves a physician's ability to detect small tumors
The use of screening mammography increases the detection of small abnormal tissue growths confined to the milk ducts in the breast, called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
No radiation stays in your body after an x-ray exam
X-rays usually have no side effects in the typical diagnostic range for this exam
Popular
Ultrasound Breast
Breast ultrasound uses sound waves and their echoes to make computer pictures of the inside of the breast. It can show certain breast changes, like fluid-filled cysts, that can be harder to see on mammograms.
Less expensive than most other imaging methods
Extremely safe and does not use radiation
Help detect lesions in women with dense breasts
Gives a clear picture of soft tissues that do not show up well on x-ray images
Help detect and classify a breast lesion that cannot be interpreted adequately through mammography alone
For most women 30 years of age and older, a mammogram will be used together with ultrasound
Ultrasound Abdomen & Pelvis
Ultrasound imaging of the pelvis uses sound waves to produce pictures of the structures and organs in the lower abdomen and pelvis.
A pelvic ultrasound can help diagnose a range of conditions:
Bladder cancer
Hernias
Kidney stones
Infections or cysts in seminal vesicles
Prostate cancer
Testicular cancer
Testicular or scrotal infection
Ultrasound Scrotum
Ultrasound imaging of the scrotum uses sound waves to produce pictures of a male's testicles and surrounding tissues. It is the primary method used to help evaluate disorders of the testicles, epididymis (tubes immediately next to the testicles that collect sperm) and scrotum.
Determine whether a mass in the scrotum felt by the patient or doctor is cystic or solid and its location
Diagnose results of trauma to the scrotal area
Diagnose causes of testicular pain or swelling such as inflammation or torsion
Evaluate the cause of infertility such as varicocele
Look for the location of undescended testis
Ultrasound Prostate
Ultrasound of the prostate uses sound waves to produce pictures of a man's prostate gland and to help diagnose symptoms such as difficulty urinating or an elevated blood test result. It's also used to investigate a nodule found during a rectal exam, detect abnormalities, and determine whether the gland is enlarged.
Detect disorders within the prostate
Determine whether the prostate is enlarged, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), with measurements acquired as needed for any treatment planning
Help diagnose the cause of a man's infertility
Detect an abnormal growth within the prostate
X-Ray
X-rays are a type of radiation called electromagnetic waves. X-ray imaging creates pictures of the inside of your body. The images show the parts of your body in different shades of black and white.
Examine an area where you’re experiencing pain or discomfort
Monitor the progression of a diagnosed disease, such as osteoporosis
Check how well a prescribed treatment is working