Hi guys,
Gonna try and keep it short and sweet today. Today was Day 1 of my modalities week and I was in MRI. I didn't get to do much, it was purely observational and trying to get to grips with cross sectional imaging and the appearance of anatomy. Saw lots of spinal exams from the whole spine being imaged in one go to seeing regional sections, whether it be thoracic or lumbar spine individually or combined. Or a cervical spine and head scan for example. All very interesting stuff and I quite liked it in MR although the pace seemed a little slow because of the length of time it takes for each examination. It was taking about half an hour just to scan one patient a lot of the time and there didn't appear to be an awful lot of patient contact compared to in general x-ray which I think I quite like. I know it's only superficial conversation I suppose in trying to be friendly, put the patient at ease and to try and get them to have confidence in you in taking the x-ray but I enjoy it all the same.....more than I realised now I'm reflecting on it.
Anyway, besides looking at the spine I also saw a couple of knee examinations and I was amazed at how much detail you can see. Was great seeing the cruciate ligaments so clearly and the synovial fluid in the joint capsule which really helped in building up that anatomical structure in my mind's eye of how things relate to each other. The same was true of seeing the spine and the abdomen - it was amazing what you could see and just how clearly you could see it. Obvious stenosis of the spine, a haemangioma which I'd never heard of before and all sorts of things. I don't know why but I didn't really expect to be able to see the different parts of the aorta so clearly and again it helped relating structures to each other. It was great!!
I'm such a geek when it comes to looking up and reading about all these pathologies and things I've never heard of before and learning all the anatomy. I find it fascinating, and since we studied the brain and the nervous system I've taken a bit of an interest in brain tumours and reading up on anything at all to do with the brain.
Sorry guys, so much for a short post - I keep getting sidetracked and going off on a tangent! I also saw a bit of MR angiography which were referred to as "peripherals" where when timed correctly you can inject a contrast agent (Gadolinium) and then image the arteries. It was amazing! I saw a couple of examinations on the trunk and lower limb but apparently they also do it to look at the carotid arteries which I never got to see today which was a bit of a shame.
Also had a bit of a chat with the radiographers about the scanner itself and how it works because despite me having had lectures on it and doing some reading over the weekend I still didn't really have the faintest idea if how it actually worked so it was good to get a bit of one-to-one time and have them go through it with me so I'm a lot happier now. Fair enough I started to get a little bored in the afternoon as it did get quite repetitive but I actually learnt a hell of a lot today.
I know all about sequences such as T1, T2, and STIR. I know about S.A.R and how the magnet and the radio frequency affect the atoms in the body to produce the images. All to a basic level yes, but we all have to start somewhere and know a hell of a lot more than I did at 9 o'clock this morning :) It was abit daunting going into the actual room with the scanner after hearing all the warnings about the magnet and the horror stories about how things can go so badly wrong. After a little demo with the radiographer of the strength of the magnet I was left in no doubt of it's power and to be honest I think I was in awe of it. Tomorrow I have a full day in ultrasound. I think I'll be seeing some ante-natal stuff in the morning and then some general sonography after lunch so I look forward to that.
Am very tired again tonight and have struggled quite badly with it today so I'm off to sleep now. I think I am still getting over all the hours I did last week as daft as it sounds. Haven't been so tired in a long time since starting this placement but it's a combination of physical and mental effort I think. My brain can't seem to switch off at the mo. Even when I get home from placement I'm thinking of all the things I could and should be doing (but usually aren't) or I'm researching stuff for my assignement which I hope to get done and dusted by Christmas so want to start ASAP. All worth it though...every time I think about the future and what it holds I get giddy with excitement and that's what keeps me going. It's very tough so if you are deciding this is what you want to do I think you need to be 100% committed to it otherwise it would be just too easy to give up.
Ok, time for my beauty sleep...lord knows I need it at the moment haha. Sweet dreams x
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