The medical specialty of radiology focuses on the implementation and advancement of imaging technology in healthcare settings to diagnose and treat disease. Radiologists closely examine the body and its internal organs and structure by using equipment and techniques that employ varying levels of radiation, radioactive substances and sound waves to create images of the desired areas.
Diagnostic Radiology
Diagnostic radiology uses external mediums, such as X-rays and high-frequency ultrasonic sound waves, to produce anatomical images that help in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The techniques employed usually don't require incisions on the body or inserting objects, and common procedures include mammography (X-rays of the breast) and magnetic resonance imaging or MRI (computerized images created with powerful magnets and radio waves). Nuclear medicine is a subspecialty of diagnostic radiology that generates images of organs with radioactive substances, such as thallium.
Therapeutic Radiology
Also called radiation therapy and radiation oncology, therapeutic radiology employs radiation to cure, manage, or decrease the symptoms of a disease, such as cancer, often through a two-step process. The first step is simulation, which involves determining the proper positioning of the patient in advance by mapping it out and perhaps also marking the targeted spots on the patient's body. The radiation oncologist then finalizes the details of the most effective treatment plan. Common procedures include radiosurgery (radiation beams target diseased tissue without cutting the body) and brachytherapy (radioactive isotopes in implants target diseased tissue inside the body).
Interventional Radiology
Interventional radiology uses various imaging methods in combination with invasive devices, such as catheters, to treat abnormalities in the body, sometimes as an alternative treatment approach to surgery or hospitalization. Aspiring interventional radiologists must complete a fellowship training program in the specialty before they are allowed to perform diverse procedures like angioplasty (using a catheter to insert a small balloon in a blood vessel to remove a blockage) and needle biopsies (using imaging techniques to guide the insertion of a needle in order to remove suspicious tissue for a biopsy).
Radiological Imaging
Radiological imaging techniques fall into three categories. Transmission imaging, such as X-rays, involves a high-energy photon beam that penetrates the body, producing images with less dense areas like fat appearing dark, bones appearing white, and muscle and connective tissue appearing gray. Reflection imaging, such as ultrasound, uses high-frequency sounds directed at the body. The waves bounce off structures at different speeds depending on the density of the tissue, resulting in computer images based on sound-wave patterns. Emission imaging, such as MRI, incorporates a computer to first analyze scans produced by magnetic energy or nuclear particles aimed at the body and to then produce corresponding images.
Radiologist Training
Radiologists must earn a medical degree and finish a four-year residency in diagnostic or therapeutic radiology. They then have the option of beginning to practice immediately, seeking certification from the American Board of Radiology, or pursuing a second fellowship in a radiology specialty, such as pediatric radiology.
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