A technology device that is used to view a patient?s internal organs is an X-ray machine, CT scanner or an MRI. These are all medical imaging devices that use modern technologies including optics, precision mechanics and electronics to provide medical practitioners with detailed images of various body parts such as bones or the digestive tract. A new technology device called an endoscope is also a type of medical imaging device that uses many modern technologies to look deep into the body by way of narrow openings like the throat or esophagus.
X-rays are the oldest and most commonly used type of medical imaging device to look at bones and soft tissues. They are used to identify and diagnose a variety of conditions and diseases such as broken bones, heart disease or cancer. Developed by German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen at the end of the 1800s, X-rays are noninvasive and do not expose the body to radiation.
Computed tomography (CT) scans are medical imaging devices that use a computer to produce two- and three-dimensional pictures of internal organs, blood vessels and bone structure. A patient lies on a table as it moves into the doughnut-shaped CT machine, which takes X-rays of different angles of the body and then processes the information to produce a series of images. CT scans are not as accurate as MRI images, but they do provide more details about some types of diseases and conditions than traditional X-rays.
