MRI Technologist: Cardiac MRI Success
This blog is now focused on laboratory specialties. This article is here for your information only, as jobs are longer provided for any radiation technician specialties.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging is possible because hydrogen atoms, present in all body tissue, vibrate when exposed to bursts of magnetic energy. An MRI machine is able to conve
rt the energy emitted by the vibrating hydrogen atoms into an image. The images provided are 3-D and cab be sliced and examined on a computer screen.
MRI images taken by an MRI Technologist are extremely useful, but there have historically been problems with images of moving structures, like the heart, being distorted. For this reason Magnetic Resonance Imaging has been used for a long time as a diagnosis tool for many problems in the human body, but, coronary artery disease hasn’t been one of them. Coronary artery disease has previously been imaged invasively, but new technology has emerged that allows the coronary arteries to be imaged non invasively. Not only can coronary arteries be imaged non invasively by MRI technologists, but it can be done with more precision than the old invasive method provided.
Even though cardiac MRI has huge promise, it is not used very much except for in university hospitals where there is an interest in research. The problem with cardiac MRI is that the uses are fairly narrow in scope. However, when the limitations are overcome, the uses of cardiac MRI will be many. Cardiac MRI could be used for patients who come in complaining of chest pain, but who do not have ECG changes usually seen in a heart attack. Presently in this situation the doctors wait for the results of cardiac enzyme tests, and if the results are positive for a heart attack, valuable time has been lost. Cardiac MRI could be used on these patients for immediate results. Researchers are getting close to perfecting techniques that could allow MRI to be used instead of invasive cardiac catheterization in order to diagnose coronary artery disease.
Learn about hiring an MRI Technologist, or find a job as a MRI Technologist.
Source:
- Fogoros, Richard. Cardiac MRI - another step closer. About.com http://heartdisease.about.com/library/weekly/aa123101a.htm
Funcional MRI Helps Understand Concussions
This blog is now focused on laboratory specialties. This article is here for your information only, as jobs are longer provided for any radiation technician specialties.
A concussion is defined as any incident which causes the brain to shake in the skull and then causes any of the following symptoms: loss of consciousness, amnesia, confusion or disorientation. Concuss
ions aren’t well understood because each concussion is different with different symptoms. Concussions probably happen most often while playing sports, and it is difficult to know when the athlete can safely begin playing the sport again. Research has shown that after a concussion a person’s brain is more vulnerable to further injury than normal.
Functional MRI is a useful tool to aid in understanding the impact of concussions. MRI alone shows brain anatomy, but does not show brain activity. Functional MRI shows changes at a metabolic level as well as an anatomic level. Functional MRI can be used to show which parts of the brain are being used during certain tasks or when thinking about certain things.
A recent study completed by the National Institutes of Health used 28 high school athletes who had received concussions, and 13 high school kids who had not been concussed. The functional MRI was done a week after the concussion and then again after the subjects had recovered. During the functional MRI the subjects were asked to complete certain memory tasks. The subjects whose brains were overly activated by the memory tasks were also the subjects who took the longest to recover.
The results of this study are useful because it provides a better way to test those who have gotten a concussion to determine how serious the concussion is and estimate when the person could resume playing sports.
Learn about hiring a MRI Technologist.
Source:
- (August 8, 2007) Sports Concussion Research Using Functional MRI Provides Insight for Safe Return-to-play Decisions. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070806114252.htm
New Tool to Reduce Radiation Exposure to CT Technologists
This blog is now focused on laboratory specialties. This article is here for your information only, as jobs are no longer provided for any radiation technician specialties.
CT technologists have a new tool they can use to reduce radiation exposure to their patients and to themselves. Positioning children and infants has always been difficult for CT technologists. The children are scared and confused and do not understand why they must stay still. Even if a CT technologist managed to position a child, the child would often move after the CT technologist left the room to take the image. This meant that a CT technologist would need to hold the child still while the image was being taken, and in the process receive a totally unnecessary dose of radiation.
Now there is a new option, and it is called the universal octopaque. It is basically a padded board that a CT technologist can gently strap a child to. The child is first wrapped with a blanket for comfort, and then strapped down. The child’s head is restrained too, with big pads on each side of the head. Using this device, the child can be safely restrained so that a good image may be taken on the first try, instead of having to repeat the image and increase the radiation dose to the child. Also, this allows the CT technologist to be safely away from the imaging process.
The universal octopaque also allows for a CT technologist to take images from angles that would have been difficult to achieve while just holding a child.
This device is useful in several other modalities as well, allowing MRI technologists, nuclear medicine technologists, and radiation therapists to remain safe while performing pediatric imaging.
Learn about hiring a CT technologist.
Source:
- Femia, John (2006, October 6) Keeping Kids Still, and RTs Safe from Radiation. Advance for Imaging and Radiation Thereapy Professionals, 6
No Time Like the Present to be a Nuclear Medicine Technologist or a MRI Technologist
This blog is now focused on laboratory specialties. This article is here for your information only, as jobs are no longer provided for any radiation technician specialties.
Now is an interesting time to be an MRI technologist or a nuclear medicine technologist because of the current studies being done in those fields. MRI imaging and nuclear medicine are being researched in hopes of using them to learn more about how the brain works and why things go wrong. The goal is to find the physical or neurological things that correlate with mental problems and can be measured by imagin
g done by a nuclear medicine technologist or an MRI technologist.
A nuclear medicine technologist is familiar with brain imaging such as PET and SPECT, which is already being used to see the areas of the brain where epileptic seizures start, and to look at the brain for indications that an epileptic seizure might occur, such as brain trauma or dementia. Another use a nuclear medicine technologist might see of SPECT imaging is to wait for a patient to seize, then a nuclear medicine technologist will quickly inject the radioisotope. Next, the nuclear medicine technologist will study the SPECT image to see where the seizure began. With this information, a surgical intervention could be done. There are even some nuclear technologists who are moving into private outpatient clinics where they will use SPECT imaging to help diagnosis neurobehavioral problems.
Some studies are done by looking at normal brains to study how humans learn. Researchers want to see if there are any structural, biochemical, or neuro-connections that indicate higher intelligence, and a nuclear medicine technologist might get to help look for these. Similar studies are being done looking at developmental delays and language problems.
One limitation of imaging that nuclear medicine technologists will see in detecting and studying neurological problems is the subject’s ability to remain still enough for a nuclear medicine technologist to take an image. A nuclear medicine technologist often has trouble imaging young kids. While children can be sedated to be imaged by a nuclear medicine technologist in necessary situations, this is not feasible for safety and ethical reasons in studies.
Learn about hiring a nuclear medicine technologist or a MRI technologist.
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Ward, Joyce, CNMT, RT(N) (2006, August 7) Probing the Mind. Advance for Imaging and Radiation Thereapy Professionals, 13-15
How CT Technologists, MRI Technologists, Mammographers and Ultrasonographers Are Affected by Obesity
This blog is now focused on laboratory specialties. This article is here for your information only, as jobs are no longer provided for any radiation technician specialties.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers thirty percent of American adults to be obese, and many areas of imaging are struggling to provide these people with good images and equipment that fits them.
Excess fat often impacts image quality, causing the patient to need more tests and sometimes a longer hospital stay. Also, equipment is stressed more and needs to be replaced more often when being used on obese patients.
The larger the body, the harder it is for an ultrasonographer to get a clear picture. Also, it is more physically demanding for an ultrasonographer to image an obese person, because they must push as close to the internal structures as possible, so if a person is very overweight, the ultrasonographer has to push as far into the excess fat as they can.
As long as the patient fits into the machine, a CT technologist or MRI technologist isn’t affected as much as an ultrasonographer, but there are still issues. A CT technologist can adjust the scan time and range to image large patients more successfully, but this requires that th CT technologist be very knowledgeable and it requires that a larger dose of radiation be given to the patient. MRI technologists will probably be impacted by large patients the least, because machines are coming out in models offering better service for large patients.
Large patients are also a challenge for a mammographer because positioning is tricky and patients get a false positive twenty percent more often than normal or underweight patients do.
There are some advances being made to improve imaging for large patients, but they come at a higher health care cost.
Learn about hiring a CT technologist, MRI technologist, mammographer, or ultrasonographer.
- Long, Sarah (2006, October 2) Limited by Body Habitus. Advance for Imaging and Radiation Thereapy Professionals, 21-23
Tips for MRI Technologists with Claustrophobic Patients
This blog is now focused on laboratory specialties. This article is here for your information only, as jobs are no longer provided for any radiation technician specialties.
Since close to half of the population is claustrophobic, one challenge of being an MRI technologist is dealing with this fear. Every MRI technologist needs to know the options they have to help their patients to be less afraid. Fortunately, there are several things a MRI technologist can do to help calm a patient.
First, an MRI technologist can suggest an open MRI system. Although, most any MRI technologist who has worked with open MRI systems know that they are not a whole lot less claustrophobia inducing than the normal MRI system. Still, an MRI technologist will often be able to convince patients to try this type of MRI with success.
The next option an MRI technologist can offer is sedation. An MRI technologist who doesn’t work in a site that offers IV sedation may have to put this responsibility on the shoulders of the patient. The patient can bring a prescription medication to the appointment. Of course when taking this route, the MRI technologist must ask the patient to bring someone with them who can drive them home after the exam.
Another option an MRI technologist can mention is to put a sleep mask or washcloth over the eyes of the patient during the exam. Or, the MRI technologist can ask the patient to bring some of their own music to play during the exam.
The most simple method of relaxing a patient an MRI technologist can employ is simply to explain the exam fully before beginning. If the patient knows exactly how long it will take and what each step is, they feel more comfortable. Also, it is best if the MRI technologist checks in on the patient during the exam, when they are not physically with the patient any more, so that the patient does not worry that they have been abandoned.
If all of these tips are used by the MRI technologist and the patient still does not want to undergo the exam, the best thing the MRI technologist can do is to is to simply accept it and not put too much pressure on the patient.
Learn more about hiring an MRI technologist.
- Chiczewski, Nancy (2006, June 12) How to Deal Openly with Claustrophobic Patients. Advance for Imaging and Radiation Thereapy Professionals, 8,70
MRI Technologists Enter an Evolving Modality
This blog is now focused on laboratory specialties. This article is here for your information only, as jobs are no longer provided for any radiation technician specialties.
Magnetic resonance imaging has recently been used for cardiac imaging with impressive results. Some experts believe that MRI will start to become a routine method for cardiovascular evaluation. The advantage of using MRI is that it is noninvasive and it does not expose patients to radiation.
MRI Technologists are trained to scan most parts of the body, but a cardiac MRI scan is more difficult, because the heart is always in motion. MRI technologists must know the anatomy and physiology of the heart in detail in order to capture useful images. MRI Technologists are now being trained to take cardiac MRIs, and as MRI technology improves the demand will increase.
Learn more about hiring MRI Technologists.
Source:
1. McGraw, Mark (2008, March 17) Matters of the Heart. Advance for Imaging and Radiation Therapy Professionals, 14-17
