Everything You Should Know about Brain Imaging

MedTech Outlook | Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Today, a variety of brain imaging techniques are used, each of which visualizes your brain in a different way.

Fremont, CA: Brain imaging serves a variety of purposes in health care and makes tasks for diagnosticians easier. Some uses of brain imaging techniques are identifying the effects of a stroke, finding swelling and bleeding, and locating cysts and tumors.Doctors utilize a specific imaging technique depending on what they need to examine in a patient’s brain. If you have symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), for example, a doctor may order an MRI scan to detect or rule out MS lesions. On the other hand, if a person wishes to check for shattered bones, a CT scan will reveal them more clearly.

Some mental health concerns can also be linked to biological reasons using brain imaging. According to a recent study, those with high levels of anxiety have different brain connectivity than those who did not have anxiety. Furthermore, brain imaging can detect disorders such as psychosis in its early stages.

Here are some common types of brain imaging techniques.

fMRI: Changes in blood flow and and oxygen levels caused by brain activity can be detected using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). It affects the magnetic nuclei of hydrogen atoms with the scanner's magnetic field, allowing them to be detected and transformed into images.Anatomic structure is shown using MRIs, while metabolic function is measured with fMRIs.

CT: A computed tomography (CT) scan is a collection of X-ray images of your brain that have been transformed into cross-sectional images. These X-rays are combined to create cross-sectional slices of a brain or even a 3-D model. A CT scan can also provide more information than a normal X-ray.

PET: A positron emission tomography (PET) scan involves the use of a radioactive tracer that binds to glucose in the bloodstream. The tracer accumulates in areas of higher brain activity since the human brain uses glucose as its principal fuel source.A PET scan can detect these tracers and track their movement and accumulation in your brain. This enables doctors to see areas where glucose isn't flowing properly.

EEG: Your brain waves are measured with an electroencephalography (EEG) examination. Clinicians will place little electrodes on your scalp that are connected by wires prior to the scan. These electrodes pick up electrical activity in your brain and relay it to a computer, which converts it into a graph-like image. Each frequency displays on its own line and provides information to your doctor about your brain activity.