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2.11 and 2.12 CT and PET Scanning, Treating Brain Injury - Coggle Diagram
2.11 and 2.12 CT and PET Scanning, Treating Brain Injury
Intro
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Usually, they are not able to cut the skull open and physically examine the brain as this is highly invasive - and often does not provide any clues about brain function
In this case, we can use CT (Computerised Tomography) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans to look inside the brain much more easily
CT Scanning
This is useful for examining bleeding within the skull, and damage to brain structures
This is usually not recommended for pregnant women and children, as it exposes the patient to higher doses of radiation than a normal X-ray
CT scans fire X-Ray radiation at the brain from several different angles to generate a 3D image of the brain
PET Scanning
The scan itself is sensitive to the tracer, so areas where the tracer builds up (which will also be areas with greater blood flow) will be highlighted more brightly on the resulting scan
This is useful for identifying cancerous tumours, as these use more blood than normal tissue
For PET scans, a radioactive ‘tracer’ is injected into the blood before the scan
Investigating the Brain
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Drugs given to treat diseases cannot always reach the brain because of the membranes that surround it
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Tumours
These tumours can push against other structures and blood vessels in the brain, restricting their function
Often, tumours can be buried deep in the brain or spinal cord, making them especially difficult to remove
Cancerous tumours can form in the brain as in any other part of the body (recall that changes in cells leading to uncontrolled cell division is what results in a cancerous tumour)