What is the use of electromagnetic waves in medicine?
Electromagnetic waves come in a very wide range of wavelengths: there are radio, microwave, infrared (heat), visible light, ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray waves. All are used in medicine in one way or another. For instance, radio-frequency waves are used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Microwave radiation is used in certain kinds of heat treatment, where the heat is generated in the target tissue (as in a microwave oven). Infrared is used in many kinds of heating applications; it’s also used in surgical lasers. Visible light is used for making examinations; it is also used, in lasers, for some kinds of surface treatments. Ultraviolet light is germicidal, for one thing; it is also used to treat neonatal hyperbilirubinemia (transitory newborn’s jaundice). X rays are used mainly for imaging internal tissues, bones most notably. Bones can be imaged by direct photography; bones and other tissues can be imaged in a CT (or, CAT) scan. X rays are also the kind of radiation used in canc
