Dave Jackson
S. Thompson
English I
October 9, 2012
Radiology and other common medical imaging procedures
Radiology is a very interesting subject and has a long history. X-Rays were discovered by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen in 1895. X-rays were first produced in a vacuum tube where electronics travelled at the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second. Electromagnetic rays have high energy and very short wavelengths, which are not visible to the human eye. In 1913, an American radiologist named Gustav Bucky made the very first radiographic grid.
With one-hundred radiologists per million Americans, approximately eighty-percent of radiologists are men. Full-time radiologists average a fifty-hour work week. The top four areas of radiology consist of: body cross/abdomen imaging, interventional/vascular imaging, breast imaging/women’s imaging, and neuroradiology. Before your examination, a radiographer will explain the procedure to you and answer any questions you may have. A Radiologic Technologist is a skilled professional with specialized education of anatomy, radiation protection, patient care, radiation exposure, and positioning. It is part of their duty to determine how much radiation is necessary to produce a diagnostic image.
Radiographic testing is a non-destructive testing that uses X-rays and/or Gamma-rays for detecting internal imperfections and for detecting corrosion. Over the years cardiac imaging has undergone revolutionary development during recent decades. Coronary angioplasty and subsequent introduction of non-invasive imaging techniques for imaging of the heart such as: echocardiography, Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Computed Tomography (CT), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), all of which have resulted in advanced diagnosis and monitoring of cardiovas-cular disease. Internal organs, bones, soft tissue, and blood vessels, can all be explored by a CT scan, which provides better clarity and shows more details than a regular X-ray. For instance, a cardiac CT for calcium scoring will show the location and extent of calcified plaque in the coronary arteries and the vessels that supply oxygen-containing blood to the heart muscle; this is a non-invasive procedure.
Another process in radiographic testing involves radioactive rays that are targeted at the exact object to be checked, to pass through it and the resulting image is captured on a film. On the film is a processed image displayed as a sequence of grey shades between black and white. While coronary & cardiac angiography was new and de-veloped by radiologists, the role of the radiologists’ in their own performance of catheterization and coronary angiography has aggressively ceased. The scope of the ra-diologist has been further diminished by the increasing importance of echocardiography. Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) imaging has gradually assumed more prevalence in cardiovascular diag-nosis; increasing the importance in the role of a radiologist.
A CT scanner emits a series of narrow beams through the human body as it moves through an arc, unlike an X-ray machine which sends just one radiation beam. CT scanning is useful to get a very detailed 3-D image of certain parts of the body, such as soft tissues, the pelvis, blood vessels, the lungs, the brain, abdomen, and bones. The final picture is far more detailed than an X-ray. The CT scanner is usually a large box-like machine with a hole in the middle. You lie on a narrow examination table that will slide you in and out of the tunnel, and then it rotates around you. The X-ray rube and electronic X-ray detectors are located opposite each other in a ring called a gantry. The computer workstation processes the image information located in a separate room, where radiologist technologists operate the scanner and monitor the entire examination.
Radiologists still perform most of the cardiac CT and MRI procedures. Recently, cardiologists have had an increasing interest in these types of procedures. Research in cardiac imaging is expanding greatly. A significantly higher number of cardiac MR articles on developing techniques and accessing of surgical therapies were published by radiologists, but they did publish more articles on congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathy, and heart failure. Also, radiologists used animals, combinations of volunteers, and technical material more often in their studies than cardiologists did. In the USA and Japan, cardiologists are more active in cardiac research than radiologists. With that being said, it is the participation in cardiac research necessary to sustain their important role in the cardiac imaging arena. From another view, the radiologists have preferential access to radiological equipment.
In radiography, the use of radiographic grids is a significant and effective means of eliminating scatter radiation from an image. Scatter radiation can decrease the contrast of an image and prevent visualization of details, which compromises image quality. The biggest problem with radiographic grids is misalignment. Misalignment can result in the edges of the image becoming underexposed or hazy. The major disadvantage of using radiographic grids is they require greater exposure to the patient due to the increased absorption of the primary X-ray beam. If additional weight is added to the image receptor with the grid encasement, it could increase the potential in error in certain radiographic views if not correctly secured in a cassette holder. Due to this problem, it adds cost and overall budget to an imaging department. The United States spends more capita on healthcare than any other country and imaging costs are increasing rapidly as well.
It is extremely important to keep and strengthen the pivotal role in cardiac imaging research and research in coronary and cardiac CT imaging and development of cardiac applications of CT/PET, SPECT, CT and MRI. Network centers of excellence in cardiac radiology will help promote interest of radiologists in cardiac imaging research and to achieve the quality of such great research activities. Due to the ever changing technology, it is important for professionals in this field to stay current in radiology training seminars, as well. It’s also necessary to obtain certification from the American Board of Radiology (ABR). Around ninety-seven percent of residency graduates become Board Certified with a ten-year certificate in the radiology field. Although certification is not required by state and federal government, it is required by most employers.

Works Cited
The Radiology Information Resource for Patients, October 5, 2012, Web Continuing Education and Career Development Resource for Radiologic Technologists, October 5, 2012, Web