Diagnosing a condition you might have is a complex process that includes gathering information like your family history, medical history, physical examinations, consultations if necessary, and diagnostic testing. The last of those steps include screening your vision, hearing, cognition, neurology, blood, urine, as well as using diagnostic imaging.
Getting images of your inner workings has been a great benefit to medicine, going as far back as the invention of the X-ray by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen in 1895.
There are many different ways to examine your bones, organs, and tissue, and these days you can even get a scan of your whole body with a computed tomography (CT) scan. This is a quick, painless, accurate way of examining your body to determine a myriad of diagnoses.
If you live in the Beverly Hills, California, area, and you need medical imaging like a full body CT scan to diagnose a condition, Dr. Shawn Veiseh and his experienced staff at Shawn Veiseh, M.D. are here to help.
To find out more about what you can learn with this technology, let’s look at what a CT scan is and what it can do.
This is the name for a diagnostic tool that uses X-rays and computer software to not only scan your body, but create a 3D rendering of your bones, organs, and other inner workings of your body.
Rather than using the traditional fixed tube in an X-ray, this type of testing employs a doughnut-shaped tube that rotates 360 degrees around you, offering an intricately detailed picture of parts of your body it would otherwise be difficult to examine.
A CT scan is a reliable way for your doctor to confirm the presence of a tumor, determine its size, and identify its location. But a CT scan can be helpful with many other issues as well. This technology can be used to diagnose conditions such as:
The procedure itself is pretty straightforward. To start, you lay on your back on a CT table. The table then moves into the machine to assess the best starting position for scanning. Once that is determined, the table moves slowly for the actual scan, which can require several passes depending on what we’re looking for.
Children who aren’t able to remain motionless can be sedated, and some tests may require you to drink a contrast material before testing to help with the results.
The full body CT scan isn’t the solution for every problem, but it’s very helpful in detecting hidden conditions and helping us better understand what’s going on inside your body.
If you have a problem that requires a full body CT scan, make an appointment with Dr. Veiseh and his team today to get started. Call our office or schedule a visit online.
