Medical imaging, sometimes called diagnostic imaging, is a term that refers to any one of the diagnostic tools that reveal to doctors what is going on inside of the body. An x-ray is a form of medical imaging as it uses radiation to produce a static picture of a particular area of the body. Other examples include computer tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound. The purpose of medical imaging is to reveal out of the ordinary issues within the body as non-invasively as possible. Advances in all types of medical imaging are being made continually, and one of the most exciting is upright MRI medical imaging in Minneapolis MN.
Traditionally, all MRIs have been performed with the patient in a reclined position, inside of an enclosed tube, which causes some patients to experience anxiety and claustrophobia. Many times, the recumbent MRI fails to reveal the source of the patient’s pain because the reclined position removes the stress from area of discomfort. Now, in Golden Valley, MN, SUMI-MRI is providing the area’s first stand up MRI. The patient is able to stand or sit in this open MRI machine, and also assume the position in which he experiences pain. Steven Brownstein, M.D., a radiologist who provided the forward to Essentials of Skeletal Radiology, reports that a considerably greater amount of pathology is identified when an MRI is done with the patient in a standing posture as compared to traditional recumbent MRIs. This new MRI technology is particularly helpful with patients with back issues, such as bulging or protruding discs, herniations, and different types of stenosis such as central canal, lateral recess and nueural foraminal.
This type of Medical imaging in Minneapolis, MN is essentially represents a medical breakthrough for affected patients whose symptoms don’t register with conventional recumbent MRIs. There are but 100 open multi-positional MRI scanners in the entire world, and we are quite fortunate to have one so easily accessible to the Minneapolis area. If your doctor has recommended you get a MRI, request that he refer you to SUMI-MRI to insure you get the best diagnosis possible using the latest technology.
