CT takes cross-sectional images (or pictorial slices) of the body using x-rays. CT scans have long been used to diagnose disorders of the brain, heart, and other organs throughout the body. The medical images created using CT can detect disease, tumors, or infections and injuries to internal organs for example. Additionally, bones can be evaluated for fractures and other lesions, and the spinal canal can be assessed for narrowing, nerve impingement, or disc herniations. Further, CT provides excellent anatomic clarity and detail that is not available with traditional diagnostic imaging (plain x-rays). This is critical when it comes to cardiac imaging and CT Angiography (CTA) exams.
|
|
|
Since a CT scan uses an ultra-thin, low dose x-ray beam, radiation exposure is minimized and is often less than that of traditional x-rays. Essentially, CT scanners are doughnut-shaped x-ray machines with a flat table through the center. Patients lie on the table and the table moves slowly through the CT scanner. As the table moves, the CT scanner spins around, sending a thin x-ray beam through the body. A detector is used to collect the emerging beam. The information collected is measured by a computer and then converted into a cross-sectional image (or pictorial slice) of the body.
CT scans can last from a couple minutes to an hour if multiple areas of the body are being evaluated at once. As the scan progresses, the patient is given instructions by the technologist such as when to hold your breath. Also, depending on the area of the body being imaged, the patient may be asked to drink a flavored mixture known as contrast. There is also a different type of contrast (traditionally known as x-ray dye) that is injected into the patient for certain CT exams. In CT, a special contrast injector is used. The injector is a machine that is used to inject the contrast through a catheter placed into a vein in the patient’s arm or hand. MIMA Radiology offers the latest CT technology from GE Healthcare and Siemens to our patients and referring physicians. The GE VCT/XT (64 Slice) system is used at our Sheridan and Malabar location while the Siemens Sensation (16 Slice) system is used at our Viera location.
Click here to see a short video of how the CT works
|
|
|
Neuroradiology is a subspecialty of Radiology that uses various techniques to diagnose disorders of the head, neck, and spine. These techniques can be used to locate tumors, traumatic injuries, or cerebrovascular disorders including stroke, aneurysms, vascular malformations, and carotid stenosis. Often, CT or MRI exams are used as imaging tools of choice, since these imaging techniques allow for optimal diagnosis of vascular abnormalities, such as aneurysms and other vascular malformations within the brain, using a non-invasive approach.
Cardiovascular Imaging can use high speed CT, MRI, Nuclear Medicine, and PET imaging to diagnose heart diseases such as the following: congenital malformations of the heart; coronary artery disease; and, inflammatory conditions of the heart muscle. Certain Cardiac specific exams are capable of assessing cardiac viability after a heart attack for example. Additionally, Coronary Artery Calcium Scoring can be performed as a screening tool in order to assess the risk of clinically unsuspected heart disease. Further, CT Angiography (CTA) provides the capability of non-invasively studying the arteries that supply the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, and legs for example.
|
|
|
What Is Cardiac CT?
Cardiac CT is a painless test that uses x-rays to take clear, detailed pictures of the heart. It is a common test for showing problems of the heart. During a Cardiac CT, the x-ray machine will move around your body in a circle and take a picture of each part of your heart. Each picture that the machine takes shows a small slice of the heart. A computer will put the pictures together to make a large picture of the whole heart. Sometimes an iodine-based dye is injected into one of your veins during the scan to help highlight blood vessels and arteries on the x-ray images. Cardiac CT does involve radiation; however, the radiation dose is kept to a minimum.
|
|
|
Cardiac CT is a common test for finding and evaluating:
- Heart related problems: Iodine-based dye used with a Cardiac CT demonstrates the coronary arteries, which are blood vessels on the surface of the heart. If these blood vessels are narrowed or blocked, chest pain or a heart attack can occur. A Cardiac CT can also demonstrate problems with heart function and heart valves.
- Aorta related problems: The aorta is the main artery that carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the body. Cardiac CT can detect aneurysms, which are diseased areas of a weak blood vessel wall that bulge out. Aneurysms can be life threatening because they can burst. Cardiac CT can also detect dissections, which can occur when the layers of the aortic artery wall peel away from each other. This condition can cause pain and also may be life threatening.
- Blood clots in the lungs: Cardiac CT can be used to find a pulmonary embolism, which is serious but treatable. A pulmonary embolism or PE is a sudden blockage in a lung artery, usually due to a blood clot that traveled to the lung from the leg.
- Pericardial disease. A disease that occurs in the pericardium, which is a sac around the heart
|
|
|
The CT department at Sheridan is accredited by the American College of Radiology (ACR). The ACR awards accreditation to facilities for the achievement of high practice standards after a peer-review evaluation of the practice. The GE VCT/XT (64 Slice) system is also available at our new Malabar location. The Viera location offers the Siemens Sensation (16 Slice) system. ACR accreditation for CT services at Viera is in progress currently and ACR accreditation will also be sought for Malabar CT services.
|
|
|