What is the difference between CT and MRI?
CT and MRI scans are both diagnostic tests that provide us with high-resolution pictures of the structure of any organ or area of the body. Both tests use computers to construct pictures of the inside of the body. There are, however, inherent differences in these tests’ mechanisms, as well as sophistication and applications. CT scans were developed in the early 70’s. CT or CAT stands for “computerized axial tomography.” Basically, CT scans consist of a highly sensitive X-Ray beam that is focused on a specific plane of the body. As this beam passes through the body, it is picked up by a detector, which feeds the information it receives into a computer. The number of “slices” refers to the number of detectors within the CT unit. The higher the number of “slices” the better the speed and image resolution. The computer then analyzes the information on the basis of tissue density. This analyzed data is then fed into a cathode ray tube (the device responsible for producing pictures on your T
