There’s a four-year-old boy with medical issues not seen before by his local doctors. He’s sent to the big city hospital to undergo an MRI scan. It is found out that through this scan, he has a brain tumor, and if not removed, it will cut off the oxygen supply to his brain. This is why the MRI scan has become such a well known procedure. The MRI is one of the best advancements to aid in brain research and improve patient diagnosis. What most people are worried about first is how the scan is done. Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, is a procedure that is used to find deformities and issues in the soft tissue of the human body. “These scans use magnetic fields and radio waves, rather than X-rays, and computers to create detailed pictures of the brain’’ (“how to diagnose”). The pictures are then sent to the computer in sliced form, which are then used by specialists to create a three-dimensional model. Due to the strong magnets used, people with pacemakers cannot undergo a scan. If a patient is found to have metal on their clothing, they must change into a robe supplied by the hospital (Kalapurayil). Also, if one has been implanted with metal plates or clips from previous surgeries, they are not eligible to get an MRI scan (“MRI scan”). To start the scan, the patient is laid down on a transfer table and a needle is inserted into their wrist. “Depending on where the MRI needs to be taken, the technician slides a coil to the specific area being imaged. The coil is the part of the machine that receives the MR signal.” ( Kalapurayil) The table then slides into the scanner and the procedure starts. The common method to calm a child is to place a mirror above their head so they can see a movie projection screen outsi... ... middle of paper ... ... Work?." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 8 Jul. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. "Magnetic Resonance Imaging." Cancer.org. American Cancer Society, 9 Aug. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. . "MRI scan." nhs.uk. GOV.uk, 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. . "Neuroimaging and Mental Illness: A Window Into the Brain." nih.gov. National Institute of Mental Health, 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. . "New Way to Use MRI to Measure the Brain." futurity.org. N.p., 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. .
Currently Dr. Correia is a Neuropsychologist at the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center. At Brown University, he is the Neuropsychology Intern Track Coordinator, the Director of the Neuropsychology Grant Writing Seminar and works in the MRI research Facility. He is the Assistant Director at the Neuroimaging Center at Butler Hospital and is also in the Imaging Core Executive Committee there.
...owell, E. R., Thompson, P. M., & Toga, A. W. (2004). Mapping changes in the human cortex
All MRI examinations were performed with a 1.5-T MRI system (Achieva; Philips Medical Systems, Best, the Netherlands) using body coil (a phased-array coil).T1, T2 and fat suppressed T2-weighted imaging as well as diffusion weighted imaging were performed during the same MRI examination in all patients. Images will acquired with the patient is in supine position with head pointing to the magnet (head first supine; HFS). The body coil was securely tightened using straps to prevent respiratory artifacts. The center the laser beam localizer will placed over symphysis pubis. Chloral hydrate syrup at a dose of 1 ml/kg body weight was needed for children less than 5 years for sedation during MRI examination.
Other testing procedures that are commonly employed, in order to gain a better visual image of the excitatory activity in the brain are the PET scan and the MRI. According to Kalat (2004), these methods are non-invasive, meaning that they don’t require the insertion of objects into the brain, yet they yield results that allow researchers to record brain activity. The PET scan (positron emission tomography) involves the researcher injecting a radioactive chemical into the patient’s body, which is then absorbed mainly by the brain’s most active cells. With the use of radioactive detectors, placed around the patient’s head, a map is produced that shows which areas of the brain are most active.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
After graduating with my Bachelor’s degree, I continued to work as a staff MRI technologist. Even though I loved what I did and had a passion helping people, the lack of diversity within radiology and its limited room for growth bothered me. I decided to look into furthering my career and found an interest in Health Information Technology. Upon researching many different schools through the country offering an online graduate Health Information Technology program, the University of Michigan in Dearborn stood out to me. Medicine and technology have both always been a part of my life, and I am very happy and excited that the chance for it to play a new part has finally arrived. I’m motivated to learn how I can combine the science of information with clinical knowledge so I can help to better patient care and
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Brain metastases are a common complication of cancer. The incidence of brain metastases is increasing worldwide [2]. About 160,000 to 170,000 of new cases occur per year in the United States. The most frequent types of cancers that tend to develop brain metastases are lung cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma, which account for 67%-80% of all cancers [3]. The most recent population-based study was conducted by Barnholtz-Sloan et al. [4] who used the Metropolitan Detroit Cancer Surveillance System and found the incidence percentage of brain metastases to be 9.6% between 1973 and 2001. Overall, population-based studies show incidence rates of brain metastases ranging from 8.3 to 14.3 per 100,000 population and 8.5-9.6...
...tance, which creates contrast, and having a Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan, Computed Tomography (CT) scan, or a fluoroscopic X-ray.
Kanske, P., Heissler, J., Schönfelder, S., Forneck, J., & Wessa, M. (2013). Neural correlates of
The biologic basis of Clinical Depression originates in the brain. Your brain is made up of a complex network of nerve cells, called neurons and of brain chemicals, called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters transmit messages from one neuron to another. Two of these neurotransmitters are not produced in sufficient quantities in a depressed person’s brain. Because of this lack, too few messages get transmitted between neurons and the symptoms of depression occur. In Clinical depression the chemicals in the brain are out-of-balance. New technology allows researchers to take pictures of the brain that show activity levels in the brain. These imaging techniques such as f-MRI and PET scan actually create images of how active different parts of the brain are. Some studies with these kinds of techniques have suggested that the patterns of activation in the brains of depressed people are different than those who are not. These tests can help doctors and researchers learn more about depression and other mental illnesses. Since this research is fairly new, it is not yet used to diagnose clinical depression.
Since the brain is extremely fragile and difficult to access without risking further damage, imaging techniques are used frequently as a noninvasive method of visualizing the brain’s structure and activity. Today's technology provides many useful tools for studying the brain. But even with our highest technology out there we do not know everything definitely. We do have fallbacks at times and these fallbacks can lead to serious problems.
Radiology is one of the few so-called “physical-science”-based fields of medicine, making it a challenging and rewarding application of an academic interest in science. It combines advanced knowledge of human physiology with principles of atomic physics and nuclear decay, electricity and magnetism, and both organic and inorg...
Soloff, P., Nutche, J., Goradia, D., & Diwadkar, V. (2008). Structural brain abnormalities in borderline personality disorder: A voxel-based morphometry study. Psychiatry Res, 164 (3), 223–236. doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2008.02.003.
Antidepressant drugs are designed to correct the imbalance. Sutton believes that feedback between his brain machine and MRI pictures of the brain at work will provide more insight not only of depression and Alzheimer's, but of stroke, multiple sclerosis, and other disorders that affect large areas of the brain. In one experiment, he and his colleagues looked at pictures of brains while their owners did simple motor tasks, such as tapping their fingers in simple and complex patterns. As expected, they saw activity in small networks of cells located in brain areas that control movements.