Advancements In Diagnostic Imaging Techniques Of The Brain

In a world where rapid advancements and revolutionary breakthroughs are on the horizon all occurring in modern medicine at such a rapid pace, the field of Neuroradiology is no exception. The first diagnostic imaging technique to be used, now considered somewhat extinct in the specialty of neurodiagnology was the x-ray. The x-ray was born in on November 8, 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad R Röntgen who

Spectroscopy may provide researchers and physicians the tool to differentiate recurrent tumor and radiation necrosis of the brain: in recurrent tumors reappearance of a high peak of chlorine is characteristic. In most cases of radiation necrosis this chlorine peak is absent or depressed. An acute infarction has a spectrum characterized by early development of a lactate peak, very soon after this the NAA peak begins to decrease. Chlorine and creatine are more variable, with time the amount of lactate decreases, NAA never returns to normal. A brain abscess has a spectrum in which lactate and amino acids dominate. MR spectroscopy of human dementia is characterized by an increased level of myoinositol in certain regions of brain, according to some investigators an increased mIn/creatine ratio may be even more accurate in diagnosis of dementia. MR spectroscopy may be helpful in assessing patients with AIDS, seizures, and metabolic brain diseases, MR spectroscopy with other nuclei, for example phosphorus and sodium will produce spectra completely different from those described above (Zamani). These studies promise to provide additional insight into the metabolic brain in health and disease, and may become even more important tools in the hands of neuroscientists of the future.

One of the greatest developments, if not the greatest in Neurodiagnology came just ten years after the unveiling of the CAT scanner, American researcher Raymond V. Damadian tested the first MRI scanner on July 2, 1977 (DeJauregui, 100 Medical Milestones 30-31). This scanner was another revolutionary invention in modern medicine since it gave doctors and researchers the best view of inner-space. Since MRI’s do not use radiation as do x-rays and CAT scans , the image enhancing dyes used for an MRI are not radioactive, thus resulting in a safer procedure for patients (DeJauregui, 100 Medical Milestones 30-31). An even greater advantage of the MRI is the ability to now view and distinguish soft tissue from bone, doctors can now see blood vessels, spinal fluid, cartilage, bone arrow, muscles, and ligaments, the device even has the ability to see inside the bone structure itself if a cancer of the bone is suspected. The most common non radioactive enhancement used in MRI procedures is gadolinium (Beltran, “Review of MRI” First Edition: 62-80). This agent acts by adding contrast or enhancing the blood vessel network supplying an abnormality, making such abnormality more visible on a film. Gadolinium, gadolinium-DPTA, gadodiamide is an intravenously-injected MR contrast agent which shortens the T1 of surrounding protons, making them appear brighter. Because gadolinium normally stays in blood vessels, it has the effect of making vessels, highly vascular tissues, and areas of blood leakage appear brighter (Sutton 209-21). Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a groundbreaking method of scanning the brain's activity that needs no radioactive materials and produces images at a higher resolution than PET is based on differences in the magnetic resonance of certain atomic nuclei in areas of neuronal activity, this research technique currently used in conjunction with the MRI in the diagnosis of abnormalities is referred to as fMRI, or functional MRI, this allows researchers to record a view of the functioning brain. With functional MRI, they can map the sites of brain activity to a resolution as fine as one millimeter (Goddard). With this technique this is allowing researcher to evaluate ones prognosis with those afflicted with neurodevelopmental disorders (ADHD, autism), in addition researchers have been able to demonstrate patterns of reduced frontal activation in schizophrenia, in addition to measuring patters changes in brain activation related to task difficulty, normal development, and drug treatment (Bullmore). Although this technique is rather new in its inception and due to the technology required to perform this rather tedious process, event

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