OCTORS

NGINEERS

Biomedical Imaging Techniques

Divya KS Rathore (

Advanced Digital Imaging Solutions Laboratory,www.

adisl

india.com

)

At the end of the day, we all realize that an apple a day is not enough and the doctor can’t be keptaway for too long. And once we actually visit one, most of us would take a radiologist’s prescriptionof getting an X-Ray, CT or MRI scan done for granted. As an Engineer, have you ever wondered why aRadiologist would prefer one of these options over the other?

Overview

The term ‘biomedical images’ denotes digital images acquired from living beings that can be used toextract

structural

functional

information. From a diagnosis point of view, the basic differencebetween various imaging modalities is the kind of anatomy being targeted.Couple of most common Biomedical Imaging techniques are:1.

Ultrasound2.

X-Ray3.

Computed tomography (CT)4.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)5.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)6.

Electroencephalography (EEG)7.

Positron emission tomography (PET)8.

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)

Ultrasound

As the name suggests, this technique uses ultrasound waves to image various anatomies. Use of ultrasound in Obstetric and Gynecological, Abdominal, Vascular, Cardiac cases has been well proven.

X-Ray

Conventional x-ray radiography produces images of anatomy based on x-ray absorption. The x-raysare directed on the anatomy to be imaged. Basic underlying concept is that different parts of theanatomy absorb different amounts of x-rays. The x-rays emerging out from the anatomy aredetected to form a two-dimensional image, where each point in the image has a brightness relatedto the intensity of the x-rays at that point. X-Rays are best suited to study bones and hard tissues.

The CT scan is an extension of the X-Ray and uses multiple X-Ray images projected at multiple anglesto create the final image. With proper software support, CT can produce a 3d representation of thetarget while X-ray is strictly two dimensional. CT is the preferred modality for diagnosing bleeding inthe brain (injury), cancer, pneumonia, and abnormal chest x-rays. Lungs and chest cavity are bestvisualized using CT. Essentially, it can target tissues that are just a bit softer than the bones very well.

MRI

Unlike X-Ray and CT that use harmful rays to image various organs, MRI is completely non-invasiveand uses an external magnetic field and pulsing radio waves and utilizes the water molecules presentin the body. Due to this physics of the method, MRI is most capable to image very minute details of various anatomies and is extremely accurate.One of the greatest advantages of MRI is the ability to change the contrast of the images. Smallchanges in the radio waves and the magnetic fields can completely change the contrast of the image.Different contrast settings will highlight different types of tissue. This gives MRI the precision and

ability to image very soft tissues that CT can’t differentiate. Brain Tumors are best diagnosed usingMRI.

fMRI

fMRI relies on the paramagnetic properties of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin to seeimages of changing blood flow in the brain associated with neural activity. This allows images to begenerated that reflect which brain structures are activated (and how) during performance of different tasks. Most fMRI scanners allow subjects to be presented with different visual images,sounds and touch stimuli, and to make different actions such as pressing a button or moving a joystick. Consequently, fMRI can be used to reveal brain structures and processes associated withperception, thought and action.

[source: wikipedia]

Electroencephalography

Electroencephalography (EEG) is an imaging technique used to measure the electric fields in thebrain via electrodes placed on the scalp of a human. EEG offers a very direct measurement of neuralelectrical activity.

[source: wikipedia]

Positron emission tomography

Positron emission tomography (PET) measures emissions from radioactively labeled metabolicallyactive chemicals that have been injected into the bloodstream. The greatest benefit of PET scanningis that different compounds can show blood flow and oxygen and glucose metabolism in the tissuesof the working brain.PET scanning is , which in turn causes easily detectable changes in PET scans. To be noted is that theearly damage is too diffuse and makes too little difference in brain volume and gross structure tochange CT and standard MRI images enough to be able to reliably differentiate it from the "normal"case.

[source: wikipedia]

Single photon emission computed tomography

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is similar to PET and uses gamma rayemitting radioisotopes and a gamma camera to record data that a computer uses to construct two-or three-dimensional images of active brain regions. SPECT relies on an injection of radioactivetracer, which is rapidly taken up by the brain but does not redistribute.

[source: wikipedia]

Following images will help in understanding the difference in details that these imaging techniquesare able to produce:

X-Ray CT MRI

Figure 1:

Various Imaging Techniques give different levels of details