nikography asked: hi, in this post: "neurosciencestuff-a-ct-scanner-uses-radiation" of yours, there is a very angry boy on the internet who thinks the top image is NOT a CT scanner, but an MRI instead. can you clear this up and explain? thanks.

The top image is an MRI scanner. It uses magnetic fields and is essentially a giant coil. The patient is likely about to get a brain scan (awesome).

The bottom image, however, is a CT scanner which uses X-Ray machines and receivers to accomplish a similar goal of looking within the human body.

The major difference is the CT scanner has to spin rapidly to produce a picture. Here’s a video of that happening:

Crazy stuff, right?

They are not the same machine, but I can see the confusion for neurosciencestuff as they are both doughnut-shaped scanning machines…

Thanks for asking for clarification!

As an aside, I now know more about medical scanning equipment than I ever thought I would need to. I love this job.

16 notesShowHide

  1. discoverynews posted this