CT Scan vs. Ultrasound

Difference Between CT Scan and Ultrasound There are numerous diagnostic tools used by Radiology departments to diagnose diseases.…

Difference Between CT Scan and Ultrasound

There are numerous diagnostic tools used by Radiology departments to diagnose diseases. Each instrument has specific use, take for eample X-rays that are used to detect broken bones or in case of MRIs for the diagnoses of soft tissue. Radiologists can effectively make a more accurate diagnosis or a better look at the specific area of ​​concern with these equipments. This article will point out the differences between CT scanners and Ultrasound scanners.

Purpose

CT scans are types of tools that aid in diagnosis and are used for many purposes. Basically, what the CT’S do is that they send X-rays through the body in very small slides and these get saved in the form of images in the computer. Fluoroscopy is a type of CT Scanner which can capture the live movement for certain diagnostic studies or interventional radiologist to help, performing a biopsy, by showing where to guide the needle into an internal organ.

The Ultrasound images have multiple goals that allow the radiologist to make more accurate diagnoses. Ultrasound uses sound waves at high frequency to produce a grey scale painting of different organs, such as the abdominal organs or heart and is often used for fetal examinations. You must have come across the ultrasound of the fetus that clearly shows a baby in the picture. Doppler ultrasound technology allows the capture of blood flow rate, as the carotid and renal arteries.

Functionality

CT is doughnut-shaped equipment that sends X-rays through the body, each time the scanner rotates an X-ray image is taken. Sometimes the patient is injected with a dye in a contrasting color, which makes tumors,  blood flow, the internal organs or other areas of interest visibly clearer, allowing the radiologist to make a more accurate diagnosis. The images are displayed on a monitor for the Radiologist to observe.

The Ultrasound transducer send waves of sound into the body of the patient that get reflected or rather bounce back from the tissues and organs of the body to ultimately return to the transducer. After interpreting these, the transducer produces certain image which gets displayed on the computer monitor. We can take measurements for the constriction flow, the size and depth, the blood flow and these can be saved by the technologist for the Radiologist to observe.

History

The CT method was invented by Godfrey Hounsfield and Allan Cormack in the year 1972.. Originally, it was a small opening and was originally used for images of the head. As technology has improved and ‘hole’ has become larger, it allowed the whole body of a patient to be scanned. Originally, it took several hours to acquire data and reconstruct an image and now it only takes a few moments.

Ultrasound is a very common thing as it is also employed in case of television programmes and movies; but still very few people have got the knowledge as regards the invention of ultrasound. There are many controversies, but the first was first announced at the Naval Medical Research Institute in the last 1940’s, when Dr. George Ludwig displayed that gallstones could be discovered and later in 1957 when Dr. Ian Donald first used it for fetal images.

Summary:

1. CT’S sends X-rays through the body in very small increments, which are saved as images on the computer, while the Ultrasound images have multiple purposes that allow the radiologist to make more accurate diagnoses.

2. The transducer emits Ultrasonic sound waves into the patient’s body, but for a CT scan, sometimes the patient is injected with a dye in a contrasting color so that important organs can easily be located.

 

 

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