[mlchang]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hirsch MRI does not have anything to do with iron. The magnetic beam is deflected by hydrogen protons. What it actually measures is the water density in a given area of tissue.

Hirsch is right, it's all about hydrogen atoms. MRI is basically an application of NMR imaging used in chemistry and p-chem. Because it is looking basically at water density there are many ways to process the data and modify the image through computer processing. Also realize that MRI is not just a single type of technique. There are different ways of running MRIs to give you different images to get different types of info.

CAT scan or CT scan is basically like a glorified XRAY machine. It measures Xrays in 3D sort of.
PET scanning is something newer and different technique. It is used more for functional analysis of the brain, i.e. you can get realtime images of what the brain is doing.

Anyway, no side effects no worries. We actually use MRI in kids more often to avoid overexposure to radiation that you might get from CT or Xray.

 

[Audio Redneck]

Iron - My Bad. I made the jump when they told me "magnetically polarized elements throughout the body"

Sorry for the misinformation

 

[bifcake]

Whatever it is, it causes cancer.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

The magnet in the MRI is also cooled to something like -320 degrees using some liquified gas. This, I believe is to make the magnet work better and more effeciently.

Andre - no word on wy you had an MRI done?? I pray that everything is alright in you noggin!!! Let us know if it isn't too personal or difficult!!

 

[CaptBubba]

Quote:

Originally posted by bifcake Whatever it is, it causes cancer.

Yeah, life is a terminal illness.

As I said, there are multiple explinations for how MRI works. I'm pretty sure it isn't due to magnetic fields being induced in the matter, because you have a huge magnet and inducing even a small magnetic field in something would make it fly toward the magnet like a bullet.

PET scans are cool, they give you a shot of radioactive glucose, which gives off a positron when it is consumed by cells. This lets them see what parts of your brain are active in real-time, which has been a boon for nuerosurgery. The problem is that, well.... you are getting a shot of radioactive glucose. Too much wouldn't be good.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

On a lighter note: A man brings his sick daughter into the ER at a local hospital. He tells the doctor that she suddenly fell down holding her head and he doesn't know what's wrong with her. The doctor does over to a side door, opens it up and leads in a yellow labrador. The dog comes over to the little girl, sniffs around here body for a few minutes, then barks and leaves. Quite puzzled, but trusting the doctor, the man just silently watches. Next the doctor goes into another room and carries out his blue tabby which again sniffs the girl from head to toe, and back from toe to head again, meows, and leaves out the way it was brought in. A few minutes later the girl wakes up, shakes here head and it totally alright. The man is so thankful he shakes the dos'c hand and tries to leave when the doc gives him a bill for $3550. "$3550" exclaims the man, "How can you charge $3550 for doing nothing!!!!" The doctor then smiles and says his bill is only $50, the rest is for the lab work and cat scan!!!!

 

[bifcake]

And don't forget the extra grand for aftermarket cables.

 

[andrzejpw]

Uh, well, its a just in case type thing. The doctor wanted to see if the uh, um, pituitary gland was ok.

 

[dawtsf]

I work with the images from MRIs (not the machines). The images can get a pretty crazy, especially in really old people who have alzheimer's etc. I don't know exactly how loud they get, but I can tell you that at the VA where I work people are known to go into war flashbacks because the MRI sounds like machinegun fire. If that sounds fun, drop on into the San Francisco VAMC, we need some more controls. Fifty bucks to sit in a tube doesnt sound that bad does it?

 

[bifcake]

I had an MRI done once and I got flashbacks from the time I was in VietNam. I got caught by the VC and they tortured me by making me listen to MP3s through Sony V600 phones. It was horrible! I went into a fit and then nurse Ratched came and she had me dragged to the room where they strapped me down on a gurney and induced shock treatments. So, eventually, I pretended to take my medications and I looked all sedated and so I talked this really big Indian guy into breaking the window and letting me escape. Phew! What a horrible experience!

 

[Budgie]

Wow, Bif, I am glad your okay(?) now.

 

[bifcake]

Quote:

Originally posted by Budgie Wow, Bif, I am glad your okay(?) now.

Thanks Budgie. I'm really lucky to have survived the MRI experience. I still get flashbacks every now and then, but it's getting better as time goes by. I just hope that they put some warning labels on those things for those of us with traumatic experiences. I still get goosebumps when I remember sitting there in the VC hooch, strapped to a table and being forced to listen to MP3s through the Sonys. War is tough, man. Real tough.

 

[blueocp]

Does that mean you've been lobotomized bif?

 

[bifcake]

Quote:

Originally posted by blueocp Does that mean you've been lobotomized bif?

I'm not sure, but there's a scar in the middle of my forehead and I can't stop drooling. Otherwise, I seem to be ok. Except for the flashbacks of course.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Wow, Bif, I am glad your okay(?) now.

That's debatable

!