FLUOROSCOPY
What is Fluoroscopy? - Fluoroscopy is a live action form of diagnostic radiology that enables the radiologist, with the aid of a contrast agent, to visualize the organ or organ system being studied. The contrast agent is needed to enhance the soft tissue which doesn't show under normal x-ray use. During fluorsocopy the image is viewed on a television monitor or screen by the radiologist. The contrast agents (or "contrast media" as they are also known) used are administered through injection, ingestion, or an enema. Flouroscopic exams include the following types of tests:Galactogram - (evaluation of breast glandular ducts)Upper Gastrointestinal (G.I.) Series - (evaluation of esophagus and stomach)Small Bowl Series - (evaluation of the small intestine)Barium Enema - (evaluation of the large intestine)Gall Bladder Series - (oral cholesystogram - evaluate presence of gall stones)Hystersalpingogram - (evaluation of the fallopian tubes)Intravenous Pyelography - (evaluations of the kidneys, ureter, and bladder)Arthrogram - (evaluation of major joints - shoulder, elbow, knee, hip, wrist, ankle)Venogram - (evaluation of veins in lower extremities)Sailogram - (evaluation of the parotid gland for blockages)
Fluoroscopy
used at the veterinary clinics
Brief history of Fluoroscopy
Fluoroscopy was invented by Thomas Edison in 1896, just one year after Wilhelm Roentgen discovered x-rays. In searching for practical ways to use x-rays, Edison developed the first medical fluoro screen. Like many other concepts pioneered by this peerless scientist, fluoroscopy was a revolutionary development that permanently altered the course of medical science. John Coltman created the image amplifier in the late 1940s, which today is known as the image intensifier.
For the first time, doctors were able to glimpse inside the human body without having to use dangerous invasive procedures. They quickly learned to harness this new technology to examine teeth and broken bones; however, it was not until the latter part of the 20 th century that the video recording element was introduced to fluoroscopy.
Video Fluoroscopy
Fluoroscopy in its original form required doctors to assess a patient’s medical situation by looking at the screen upon which a single fluoroscopic image was projected. With the advent of video fluoroscopy, the patient could spend significantly less time being x-rayed, and the results could be viewed from a remote location.
The next major development in video fluoroscopy occurred when physicians began using the technology to monitor gastrointestinal (organ movement) and fertility health. These and other new applications for video fluoroscopy were made possible by refinements in such elements as resolution, speed, and safety. As a result, a growing number of patients were able to benefit from video fluoroscopy, including those with speech impediments and Parkinson’s disease.
Born From Video Fluoroscopy – Digital Motion X-Ray (DMX) in Palm Harbor
In 1995, the concepts behind video fluoroscopy were used as the foundation of a completely new kind of kinetic imaging known as digital motion x-ray (DMX). As with video fluoroscopy, the equipment available from our Palm Harbor-based company allows doctors and insurance companies to witness real-time motion of patient’s skeletal system. However, there are considerable technological differences between DMX and other video fluoroscopy techniques.. DMX exposes patients to far lower radiation levels than traditional video fluoroscopy. Also, due to the progress made in computer imaging over the last decade, DMX images are far clearer and more detailed.
LINEAR TOMOGRAPHY
Linear Tomography (also called Tomo Synthesis) is a Computer Aided Tomography process
for generating 3-D images using conventional X-ray equipment.For Linear Tomography, X-ray images are collected while the X-ray tube moves through a
range of positions, generating images with a range of exposure angles. For example, a standard
doctor’s office or small clinic X-ray machine has a movable X-ray tube. Collecting images with
exposure angles spanning at least 60o with respect to the subject is desirable. The Iconos R 200
moving through a range of positions for Linear Tomography is illustrated in figure 2
Linear tomography: This is the most basic form of tomography. The X-ray tube moved from point "A" to point "B" above the patient, while the cassette holder (or "bucky") moves simultaneously under the patient from point "B" to point "A." The fulcrum, or pivot point, is set to the area of interest. In this manner, the points above and below the focal plane are blurred out, just as the background is blurred when panning a camera during exposure. No longer carried out and replaced by computed tomography.
Out of the many contending tomography modalities the simplest of the all is linear tomography, in which the X-ray tube is moved in a straight line in one direction while the film moves in the opposite direction. As these shifts occur, the X-ray tube continues to emit radiation so that most structures in the part of the body under examination are blurred by motion. Only those objects lying in a plane coinciding with the pivot point of a line are seen sharply on the diagnostic image.
