Nueroimigaing in PT

• Computed Tomography

  • Cross-sectional representation of anatomy created by a computer-generated analysis of the attenuation of x-ray beams passed through a section of the body
  • Bone - white
  • Organs and Air filled sacs - black
• Indications for CT

  • Acute change in mental status
  • Focal neurologic findings
  • Acute trauma to the brain and spine
  • Suspected subarachnoid hemorrhage
  • Conductive hearing loss
• Computed Tomography

  • Safe, fast, and reliable
  • Radiation exposure depends on the dose used but is normally between 2 and 5 mSv (millisievert)
  • Care must be taken to reduce exposure when imaging children
  • The most frequent complications are those associated with use of intravenous contrast agents
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging

  Complex interaction between hydrogen protons in tissues, a static magnetic field (the magnet), and energy in the form of radiofrequency (Rf) waves of a specific frequency introduced by coils placed next to the body part of interest
• Common contraindications to MRI

  • Cardiac pacemaker or permanent pacemaker leads
  • Internal defibrillatory device
  • Cochlear prostheses
  • Bone growth stimulators
  • Spinal cord stimulators
  • Electronic infusion devices
  • Intracranial aneurysm clips (some but not all)
  • Ocular implants (some) or ocular metallic foreign body
  • McGee stapedectomy piston prosthesis
  • Duraphase penile implant
  • Swan-Ganz catheter
  • Magnetic stoma plugs
  • Magnetic dental implants
  • Magnetic sphincters
  • Ferromagnetic inferior vena cava filters, coils, stents-safe 6 weeks after implantation
  • Tattooed eyeliner (contains ferromagnetic material and may irritate eyes)
• Magnetic resonance angiography

  general term describing several MR techniques that result in vascular-weighted images, providing a vascular flow map rather than the anatomic map shown by conventional angiography
• PET

  Positron emission tomography - detection of positrons emitted during the decay of a radionuclide that has been injected into a patient, most frequently using 2-[18F] fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG), revealing differences in regional glucose activity among normal and pathologic brain structures, used primarily for the detection of extracranial metastatic disease and Alzheimer's disease
• Myelography


  Intrathecal instillation of specially formulated water-soluble iodinated contrast medium into the lumbar or cervical subarachnoid space, typically performed after myelography (CT myelography) to better demonstrate the spinal cord and roots, which appear as filling defects in the opacified subarachnoid space
• Angiography


  Indicated for evaluating intracranial small vessel pathology (such as vasculitis)