Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
The fact that it is now possible to look inside the body from the outside and visualise bones, as well as organs and vessels, began on 8 November 1895. On this day, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered a new type of invisible radiation that was able to penetrate skin and muscles and visualise bones. Since then, the X-rays named after him have revolutionised medical diagnostics.
Today, an independent medical speciality, radiology, deals with so-called medical imaging. Conventional X-rays are still used for a large number of examinations, especially to detect lung diseases or visualise bone fractures.
Computed tomography
Computed tomography (CT) is an advanced X-ray technique. Here, an X-ray tube circles around the patient layer by layer. Detectors on the other side record the generated image and a computer calculates a three-dimensional image from it. Even moving parts of the body, such as the beating heart, can be visualised in this way. Today, a CT scan can be used for almost all medical issues in diagnostics.
Magnetic resonance imaging
X-rays are not entirely harmless because they damage the tissue they penetrate. However, the radiation dose of modern X-ray systems and CTs is so low that there is hardly any danger for adults. Nevertheless, procedures that do not require X-rays are used for children and adolescents or for certain diagnoses. Ultrasound (sonography) is one such procedure, which is also used, for example, to examine the unborn child in the womb. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which also uses magnetic vibrations to produce images of the inside of the body in a very gentle way, is also used for special examinations.
Special examination methods
Nuclear medicine, on the other hand, takes a different approach. This makes use of the fact that radioactively charged particles attach themselves more strongly to tumours and bone metastases or structures of the thyroid gland, for example. Patients are therefore administered tiny amounts of radioactive medication for the examination. Special examination methods such as PET/CT, in which the positron emission tomography (PET) imaging method is combined with computer tomography (CT), or scintigrams make the radioactive particles and thus a metastasis visible.
PET/MRI
The whole-body hybrid device combines the latest imaging techniques from MRI and PET, allowing not only the organ and tissue structures to be displayed in the highest resolution, but also their functions to be comprehensively analysed. In this way, diseases such as cancer can be detected even earlier, changes in tumours can be better documented and monitored and their treatment can be optimally supported. By carrying out both analyses simultaneously in one scanner, it is possible to superimpose both data sets very precisely. Clinical areas of application are primarily the detection of diseases in the fields of neurology, oncology and cardiology as well as in therapy planning. In research, PET/MRI offers new possibilities, for example in the development of new biomarkers or new therapeutic approaches.
The Radiology and Nuclear Medicine departments at Ulm University Hospital are equipped with all imaging procedures and always use the latest state-of-the-art medical technology. The work of the radiologists goes far beyond pure diagnostics. Gentle interventions inside the body using catheter systems and X-ray fluoroscopy are also offered at Ulm University Hospital as part of interventional radiology at the highest medical level. One focus of nuclear medicine is, for example, the treatment of thyroid diseases.
