Medical imaging has made great progress in recent decades. Medical imaging can be used to anatomically depict the human body with its organs and organ boundaries and thus to draw conclusions about pathological changes.
A doctor can also use medical imaging to distinguish pathological structures and differentiate between benign and mali-gnant processes. A distinction must be made between anatomical and functional imaging, the combination of which can be used to draw conclusions about abnormalities at a molecular level.
Whereas in the past imaging was only used for existing damage, the trend nowadays is to detect diseases preventively before they even become noticeable. The aim is to combat widespread diseases such as dementia, arteriosclerosis and cancer in advance by quickly identifying molecular changes in a preventive medical examination.
Figure 1
Areas of application for imaging methods are shown in Figure 1. Even today, medical imaging is still subject to continuous changes. Regardless of the method, the systems must become ever smaller (miniaturization), the data must be digitized and, ideally, the radiation exposure of a device should be reduced or remain completely radiation-free.
The aim of medical imaging in the future is the transition from qualitative imaging to quantitative imaging, which uses numbers and data to ensure the reproducibility and comparability of measurement results and stores them in databases. This should greatly improve the information value of the images. 1, 2
Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays in 1895. The professor initially only wanted to investigate light phenomena in cathode ray tubes. In this context he made a discovery that could no longer be explained by mere light phenomena. Despite using black paper, an experimental set-up with a glass could continue radiating through the paper. Afterwards, the professor is said to have locked himself up in his laboratory for six weeks to further investigate the unusual phenomenon he had discovered. In doing so, he found out that the rays he called X-rays were invisible radiation that could penetrate almost anything.
In 1895, Mr. Röntgen produced the first X-ray image of the hand of his wife Anna Bertha Röntgen. It is considered
a very important document of this era. When looking at the photograph, Mrs. Röntgen commented: "I have seen my own death.” Physically, an X-ray is an electromagnetic wave with a wavelength between ultraviolet light and gamma radiation. 3, 4
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen – experimental setup / image of Anna Bertha Röntgen's hand 5
Based on the same basic principles, the imaging methods differ in use and function.
Transmitters and receivers are always part of the systems. The transmitter generates radiation, a signal and excites an object. The signals emitted by the object are fed via a receiver for further processing and evaluation. The visual image (e.g. an X-ray image) contains differences in brightness and/or color.
Depending on the method, certain organs, tissues or regions can be displayed with more or less information and more or less detail.
This is achieved through the use of:
Luminance meters, illuminance meters, DICOM and test patterns are used as test equipment for acceptance and constancy tests.
The measuring devices used for illuminance and luminance must comply with class B according to DIN 5032-7 and must be calibratable and recalibratable.
1 A. Pachner, „Bildgebende Verfahren in der Medizin: Seminarvortrag“, 2004.
2 S. S. v. Obernitz, „Medizinische Bildgebung,“ IMAGING NETZWERK BERLIN, Berlin-Brandenburg, 2012 / 2013.
3 https://www.n-tv.de/wissen/Als-Roentgen-ganz-zufaellig-Geschichte-schrieb-article16296581.html
4 „Röntgenstrahlung,“ de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Röntgenstrahlung
5 W.C. Röntgen / Deutsches Museum München
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