Medical Central: Medical Imaging--For Other Stuff Too!

Read more on Medical Imaging today, and got some more details on something that has been mentioned before: Medical Imaging can be used for surgery too!

Medical Imaging--Other Uses
Now, some us know that radiation has been used to kill and battle cancers. Radiation kills dividing cells... that's bad for us humans, who have dividing cells. But it's even worse for cancers and their tumors... why? Tumors are made up of very rapidly dividing cells... faster than normal human cells! So a burst of radiation can do more damage to a cancer's tumor than our cells. But you still have to be careful... even these small bursts can have side-effects like the famous hair loss, and even nausea according to the book. And those bursts can still affect other tissues. It can be a tricky problem.
Then comes in Medical Imaging! MRI scans and other scans, like PET, CT, and fMRI, can pinpoint these tumors better. With a better location, the radiation treatment can focus the gamma or X-Rays more onto the tumor and not other tissues... and with less radiation! Talk about safer!
It has been said that endoscopes and some other Medical Imaging techniques can be used in keyhole surgeries. This is not the only way Medical Imaging can be used for surgery. Scans can be made of, say... a patient's brain. This can help the surgeon even before the surgery. But sometimes tissues in the brain and other areas move a bit, so the surgeon needs a little more help. Here comes in a special MRI scanner called an open-side MRI. There's an open area in, where else, the side, where the surgeon can scan. Since it's an MRI, the surgeon needs to use special tools for surgery that are non-magnetic. The MRI scans the brain constantly, and the computer makes and aligns the image as needed, and then feeds the image to a TV screen that's where the surgeon can see it. This helps the surgeon keep track of everything and accomplish the surgery.
The MRI can be mixed with different things, like PET, CT, and fMRI. This helps the surgeon by seeing other things, like different tissues and blood streams (book says major ones). This helps so that the surgeon doesn't damage anything else, even by accident. When working in a major area of the brain, like the movement-controlling and speech controlling areas, this is important, because a mistake can leave a patient paralyzed or speechless for life!
This type of surgery has been primarily used for brain surgery. Studies are being made, however. Maybe one day, they'll  be able to do tricky & complicated surgeries in areas like the kidneys and other places!
MRI has been discovered to have a different treatment ability too. MRI creates electrical and magnetic fields. Scientists have discovered that patients suffering from depression that go through MRI scans come out happier because of these fields! No one really knows why, however. But this was a good discovery, however! But MRI Scanners are very expensive. So scientists are making animal tests with a smaller device that makes similar fields (according to the book). They're hoping that this device can eventually be used for a treatment for depression! That's amazing!