MRI scans are painless and use a large magnet and radio waves to look at organs and structures inside the body. They help diagnose a variety of conditions from torn ligaments to detecting tumors. They are also very useful for examining the brain and spinal cord – key components of the body’s nervous system.
Ultrasounds involve a high use of high frequency sounds waves that are produced by a handheld sensor called a transducter. Sound waves that hit a body part, bounce back towards the transducter which is connected to a computer. From there, the reflected sound waves are converted into the image of the specific part of the body that is being analyzed. Ultrasounds are used for the diagnosis of many medical conditions as well as the assessment of treatments. The common uses of an ultrasound are the examination of the developing fetus in a mother’s womb, reproductive organs, the heart, liver and kidneys.
Two technologies that are quite new to the medical field that I discovered are the SoftScan for breasts and the swallowable sensor pills. The SoftScan is a Canadian ART (Advanced Research Technologies) contribution. They are a more in depth and accurate compared to traditional mammography scans. Mammograms have blind spots that limit its diagnostic capabilities. The SoftScan is painless, doesn’t have harmful ionizing radiation and captures the biochemistry, physiology and the patient’s response to therapy as the anatomy changes. It improves diagnosis and quality of care. The swallowable sensor pill (Smart Pill) is an ingested, wireless device for measuring the health of the digestive system. This pill aids in the diagnosis of gastroparesis, a disorder that cause the stomach to empty very slowly. The pill gathers data to a receiver as it passes through the digestive tract which it later returned to the doctor and downloaded to a computer. The downside to this remarkable innovation is that each capsule costs between $500 to $20,000.
It is without a doubt to see that technology plays an important part in helping us better understand our body’s internal systems. Without the various technologies accessible today, it would be very difficult – impossible even, to diagnose, treat or understand how and why our body’s internal system functions the way they do. Technologies raise our awareness and guide us to make better choices that benefit ourselves and others.
Word Count: 497
BioBlogs I have read & commented on:
Mary Abucejo:
http://marysbioblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/softscan-step-in-right-direction.html#comments
Denise Gabuya:
http://thebioden.blogspot.com/2011/05/importance-of-technology-in-medical.html#comments
References:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mriscans.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/xrays.html
http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2011/2/2/health/7894566&sec=health
http://www.art.ca/en/clinical/index.php
http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17470
