How many times did your doctor refer you to a radiologist before giving you a final diagnosis? Typically you would feel frustrated in the beginning, as you might not understand the necessity of this step. In case you are curious about radiology and its importance for your life, this article will give you an insight about this medical field.
Dr James Fleckenstein M.D.,a radiologist in Chicago Illinois, believes in the important role of radiology in discovering various illnesses before they become too serious.
What is radiology?
Radiology is a medical branch that includes imagining and scanning a patient’s body. The imagining process aims at diagnosing specific diseases that are not visible to the naked eye. When a doctor specializes in radiology, they become radiologists. After performing an imagining, a radiologist reads and provides interpretation for the scans in form of reports.
You may confuse a radiologist and radiologic technologist. These two professionals complete each other, but they are not the same thing. A Radiologic technologist or a radiographer is a health professional who helps a patient throughout the imagining process. For instance, a radiographer assists you take the right position on the machine used in the scan. They are also trained to operate machines to perform the scan. A radiologist, on the other hand, is a doctor who provides and signs an imagining report.
Types of radiology
The most famous purpose of radiology scans is seeing what is inside the body and diagnosing certain illnesses. Diagnostic radiologists are experts in reading and interpreting different types of imaging. You can benefit from this area of medical speciality in knowing what is going on inside your tissues and organs. Also, it helps you understand the progress you are achieving in the treatment. Usually, patients with cancer or bone problems benefit the most from radiology imaging.
In addition to the diagnosis area, there is interventional radiology. This area is includes using imagining techniques such as MRI or sonographies. But the use of these techniques won’t stop at diagnosing. In fact, it aims at using them in performing and guiding medical procedures or surgeries.
Importance of radiology
Radiology includes various types of techniques that cover imagining and scanning different body parts. X-rays are the most famous type of radiology and its use to scan bones is commonly used in different parts of the world.
In addition to early detection of different health problems, radiology can help in treating patients. Through interventional radiology, doctors can perform sensitive surgeries accurately without big incisions or medical errors.
Radiology can save many lives when done by experts. It is the only way to find out exactly what is going on inside your organs. Radiologists don’t offer accurate images of a patient’s organs, but they help in diagnosing as well. Proper diagnosis leads to proper treatment, which can prevent death in many cases.
The role of radiology covers a wide range of cases from minor bone fractures to malignant tumors. So basically, all doctors can’t do their job properly without accurate imaging.
