Principles of Medical Imaging

Book excerpt: Since the early 1960's, the field of medical imaging has experienced explosive growth due to the development of three new imaging modalities-radionuclide imaging, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging. Along with X-ray, they are among the most important clinical diagnostic tools in medicine today. Additionally, the digital revolution has played a major role in this growth, with advances in computer and digital technology and in electronics making fast data acquisition and mass data storage possible. This text provides an introduction to the physics and instrumentation of the four most often used medical imaging techniques. Each chapter includes a discussion of recent technological developments and the biological effects of the imaging modality. End-of-chapter problem sets, lists of relevant references, and suggested further reading are presented for each technique. - X-ray imaging, including CT and digital radiography - Radionuclide imaging, including SPECT and PET - Ultrasound imaging - Magnetic resonance imaging