Medical imaging in Minneapolis MN, is used to diagnose a wide variety of medical conditions, helping doctors see inside the body similar to x-rays. One of the most commonly used types of imaging in medicine is the MRI. Understanding the types of things doctors are looking for with the use of this diagnostic equipment can help you feel more at ease when you go in for your testing.
Soft Tissue
Unlike an x-ray, the MRI is designed to look at the soft tissues within the body, creating a picture of your insides in a non-invasive manner. When your doctor prescribes an MRI, he is most likely looking for something wrong within your body that would appear in the soft tissues, such as a pinched nerve, heart disease, multiple sclerosis or even tumors. The images produced by the MRI machine are often superior to other diagnostic tools to identify these problems.
Musculoskeletal
Most people know you get an x-ray for a suspected broken bone. However, there are other areas of the musculoskeletal system that can require medical imaging in Minneapolis, MN. With an MRI, your doctor can look for issues in the joints in particular because these areas consist of both hard bone and softer tissues. This makes MRIs an important aspect of sports medicine, allowing sports doctors to identify injuries more easily.
The Brain
An MRI is one of the best ways doctors have to look at a patient’s brain tissue, identifying tumors and other abnormalities of the brain. Because the brain is such a delicate organ, it is important to exercise extreme caution when dealing with it. An MRI can help guide a doctor to help someone with a brain injury or other problem by mapping out the problem area and showing him just what needs to be done to remedy the problem.
Because medical imaging in Minneapolis, MN, is such an important part of medicine today, it is important for everyone to understand what it can be used for. Being ordered to get an MRI by your doctor can feel like a scary experience. However, if you know what your doctor is looking for, as well as how the MRI works to identify problems, you can feel more at ease when you go in for your testing. The more comfortable you are with the testing, the more accurate your results will be.
