How do MRI and other types of brain research

the Brain us to study long

There are words that sometimes are a little afraid or just cause confusion. Agree that the ”brain scan” really sounds like something from a science fiction movie about the distant future. Others will remember something from the stories of dystopia. To imagined people, it's just a medical procedure that is absolutely painless and causes no unpleasant sensations, but it gives you the answers to many questions related to human health and the understanding of the deviations that people may not guess, but which is still not too late to localize. How it works and generally represents the scanning of a human brain?

What is a brain

The Brain is that is one of the main topics of modern medicine. You can fight the diseases that affect the body, but diseases that affect the brain worse. Often they don't cause any pain, but they prevent the person to live normally, sometimes even changing its identity.

All because of the fact that the brain is we. Man is not the body — tool body only. The whole essence and personality enclosed in the brain. You can say that it is simply a set of proteins or the vault of souls, but in any case, if you replace the human kidney or heart, it will be you, and if you imagine that you can replace his brain, what will be left of him? Set of muscles, bones and organs — and that's all.

That is why the brain is necessary to keep in good condition to minimize the risk of its premature destruction. And it is necessary to investigate and verify to see whether it works and not if he needed to do something to help. One of the main researches is the brain scan that is done using ultrasound. But that's not the normal ultrasound that you do when checking the internal organs of the abdominal cavity.

What abnormalities can be seen after brain scan

types of brain scans the lot and they all have their advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, to determine different variations use different methods.

If you choose the right type of study, it is possible to detect diseases such as Alzheimer's, stroke, brain, various types of tumors, epilepsy and many more.

While modern medicine has not advanced far enough to answer all questions — the brain is so complex — but she can tell not only about what disease is, but also where they came from and how to treat them, if at all possible.

Alois Alzheimer's.

What are the different types of studies of brain

Types of brain research and its vessels are different and divided according to the type of exposure which turns out in order to obtain information. Some work by ultrasound, the other due to x-rays, and the third due to the electric field. Often prescribe a few studies to get a more complete picture of what is happening in the human mind.

The Study, which allows to determine the physical parameters of the brain, called echoencephalography (abbreviated Echoeg). Such research is used when it is necessary to determine the presence of tumors or the consequences of traumatic brain injury.

If you want to understand how well the brain is supplied with blood, is to carry out Doppler (abbreviated as Doppler ultrasound). So it is possible to determine how easily blood passes through the vessels of the head and neck. Approximately the same results gives rheoencephalography (abbreviated as REG). It is based on fixation of changes of electrical resistance of tissue and pulsating fluctuations of blood vessels. Also, this method can determine the tumors and other local lesions.

Where the more familiar combination of letters is an MRI or magnetic resonance imaging. It is a difficult study and it is not enough just to put someone in this unit. It is more important to the researcher was able to correctly decrypt the data. Machine is never wrong, and people might have something to ignore or to see is not what you need. The method is based on the mechanism of nuclear magnetic resonance and is a very effective and universal for different types of diseases. He also has a more advanced version — magnetic resonance angiography (abbreviated MPA). This method allows us to construct a three-dimensional model and to work with each of them.

CT scan (abbreviated CT) is done if it is necessary to consider the slices of the brain at different levels. The method involves passing x-rays through the brain tissue. As in the case of x-rays of bones, brain tissue have different permeability and due to this, you can determine exactly where the damage or decline.

done on this machine.

Of study Options and complex cuts a lot, but often they overlap, are not very effective or simply not applied because of the narrow specificity. Really popular and mass studies are MRI, ultrasound, CT and PET. Let's talk about this in more detail.

the Most effective ways of brain research

Everything describedfollowing procedures are completely painless, although sometimes very tiresome when you have time to lie motionless. Their value today ranges from 2 000 to 10 000 depending on the location and complexity of the study.

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ultrasound of the brain

The Most common research in all directions is an ultrasound. Exists and ultrasound of the brain. In this study to test the brain ultrasound is used, the security of which is proved by multiple studies. Its impact does not accumulate and allows the study with the frequency that you want.

There are No contraindications for this study no. It is possible to do for both adults and children of any age. Indications for the direction of a person on the UZI is a violation of the sensitivity, noise or ringing in the ears, headache, dizziness, impaired motor activity and some other symptoms.

ultrasound of the temples and the nape of the neck is the most accurate, as there is the thinnest bone of the skull.

Before the ultrasound the patient will be asked to study and not to smoke for 3-4 hours to rule out any physical activity for 2 hours and alert a physician about the regular medication. The only way to reduce the distortion of the result.

Just before the start of the study the scalp of the patient is smeared with silicone gel and lead to these places by a special device. During the study the patient should keep quiet for approximately 10-30 minutes. Because of this, it is particularly difficult to carry out this procedure with children.

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brain MRI

I have already said that an MRI is only a small part of the process of the study of abnormalities and pathology of the brain, it is more important to correctly interpret the data. It really is many private clinics won't even do a transcript of results directing to professionals from other hospitals.

Quality of equipment is important from the point of view of the amount of data collected and what the impact will be on people. Typically, the magnetic field inside the MRI machine is only slightly greater than . Far worse than the claustrophobia that can haunt even those who do not suffer it. Man is a narrow tube that makes a noise and buzzing. There are many may be somehow not on itself. The problem is that new equipment is able to conduct more measurements in a single procedure, but for this we have to extend it. At this point the person has to be at rest. For children this is a big problem and sometimes even invite children's anesthesiologists.

do MRI of brain.

Not only claustrophobia is a contraindication to the study. Many psychological disorders is also is also incompatible with an MRI and stay in an inadequate state. To postpone the study will have in the case of acute respiratory and viral diseases.

The Research is conducted with frequent headaches and other that interfere with normal human life. The method is harmless, because ionizing radiation is missing. Carry out procedure as required, but to obtain the result at once will not work. Sometimes on the transcript and the diagnosis may take from several tens of minutes to a couple of days.

the result of the MRI of the brain.

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brain PET

PAT, in addition to the usual in everyday life the title, stands for positron emission tomography. Its main task is the diagnosis of brain metabolism in a number of diseases. To do this, assess the various processes that occur in the brain tissue at the cellular level.

Often checking is done to determine the effects of stroke or of early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. You can also define the initial stage of cancer.

it's So colorful it looks like the result of PET of brain.

As usual, there are a number of contraindications. So it is impossible to perform PET pregnant and lactating women, as well as people with diabetes. While for other people the study is relatively harmless and is not prohibited its regular organization, if necessary.

The Restrictions before the procedure is more serious than in other tests of the brain. Do not eat more than 4-6 hours prior to the start of the study. To the procedure it is necessary to come in, and in front of her man introduced a special radiopharmaceutical. After 15-30 minutes the patient is relaxed, and the procedure lasts 30-75 minutes. No discomfort when a drug or the study not.

The Results also have to wait, but usually it does not exceed a few hours. After some investigation in the morning, late in the afternoon you can already see the results.

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a CT scan of the head and the brain

Computed tomography not only gives the possibility to obtain detailed images of the brain in cross section, but also allows to determine the position of the entity or damage, and scale.

The Procedure is considered quite safe, but the radiation exposure is still there. It is necessary to pay attention to when choosing the frequency of the studies and combined with other x-ray studies. In any case,the main thing is to do a CT scan in a good clinic on good equipment — it much more safely than the poor or the old analogues.

the result of the CT scan gives a detailed image slices of the brain.

The Procedure may performed with contrast to more precisely define what . In this case, the person introduced a special drug, which is well visible in the pictures. This method is contraindicated for people with asthma, Allergy to iodine, diseases of the heart or thyroid, and diabetes. However, even without contrast CT is prohibited to pregnant women, like any other x-ray studies.

Computed tomography is indicated for vertigo, acute circulatory disorders, disorders of speech and memory, as well as when the seizures and the disruption of the sensory organs (sight, hearing, smell).

Only a CT with contrast are limitations, and for 4-5 hours before the procedure. In other cases training is not required. The study itself lasts about 20-30 minutes and the results will be ready within one to two days.

As with x-rays during the CT scan, the technician sits in a separate room.

What is MRI different from a CT scan

Many people are confused between MRI and CT. There's a logical explanation. Apparatus for the two studies are very similar, the pictures also have similarities and even the price in clinics of the same level is not very strong (although a little more expensive than MTR). All of this brings a certain turmoil — all too similar.

Studies do not replace, but rather complement each other. The main difference is that MRI is applied to imaging of soft tissues (blood vessels, internal organs and so on), and CT is more aimed at the detection of structural tissue changes, order for this layered model. If we talk about the brain, the MRI gives a General overview with in-depth details, CT and allows us to consider the cuts. For example, it shows very well the tumors and the places where they are located. Also do not forget that not everyone can get x-rays. In this case, a CT scan immediately disappears.

How to choose a method of brain scanning

Any study, as brain scans, is a medical procedure. It is not necessary to choose your own. If something bothers you, you have come to the doctor and he will guide to the desired test. If you just want to get tested, you still go to the doctor and tell them what you want to learn, and he will select the study type based on your characteristics and contraindications.

Self — this is bad, we should not forget about it. Of course, doctors too sometimes ”not present”, but in this case, you can always get up and go to another. The main thing to understand that any self-treatment has its contraindications. Only a specialist can accurately determine what you can and need to do and what to avoid.