How the Doppler Effect Works

A Doppler weather radar tower

If you like riddles, you'll like this one: How can a musician playing a single note on a horn
change that note without changing the way he or she plays that note? At first, you might think
this is a trick question. Clearly, the musician must do something to change the pitch, right?
Wrong. If the musician plays the same note while moving toward or away from a stationary
listener, the note heard by the listener will indeed change -- even if the musician does nothing
different.
Dutch scientist Christoph Hendrik Diederik Buys Ballot conducted this very experiment in
1845. He assembled a group of horn players and placed them in an open cart attached to a
locomotive. Then he had the engineer start up the locomotive so it could carry the cart,
complete with the horn players, back and forth along the track. As they were being pulled, the
musicians played a single note on their horns. Ballot stationed himself beside the track and
listened carefully, both as the train approached and receded. And the notes he heard were
different than the notes being played by the musicians.
Although unusual, Ballot's experiment demonstrated clearly one of the most important wave
phenomena known to scientists. The phenomenon is called the Doppler effect after Austrian
mathematician Christian Johann Doppler, who first predicted this odd behavior of sound in
1842. Today, scientists know that the Doppler effect applies to all types of waves, including
water, sound and light. They also have a good idea why the Doppler effect occurs. And
they've incorporated its principles into a variety of useful tools and gadgets.
In this article, we'll examine everything Doppler: the man, the science and the technologies.
But first we have to lay some groundwork. Because the Doppler effect is a phenomenon
associated with waves, let's start by covering some basics about the two basic types of waves
-- light and sound.

Wave Basics
When most people think of waves, they think of water waves. But light and sound also travel
as waves. A light wave, like a water wave, is an example of a transverse wave, which causes
a disturbance in a medium perpendicular to the direction of the advancing wave. In the
diagram below, you can also see how transverse waves form crests and troughs.
The distance between any two crests (or any two troughs) is the wavelength, while the height
of a crest (or the depth of a trough) is the amplitude. Frequency refers to the number of
crests or troughs that pass a fixed point per second. The frequency of a light wave determines
its color, with higher frequencies producing colors on the blue and violet end of the spectrum
and lower frequencies producing colors on the red end of the spectrum.
Sound waves are not transverse waves. They are longitudinal waves, created by some type
of mechanical vibration that produces a series of compressions and rarefactions in a medium.
Take a woodwind instrument, such as a clarinet. When you blow into a clarinet, a thin reed
begins to vibrate. The vibrating reed first pushes against air molecules (the medium), then
pulls away. This results in an area where all of the air molecules are pressed together and,
right beside it, an area where air molecules are spread far apart. As these compressions and
rarefactions propagate from one point to another, they form a longitudinal wave, with the
disturbance in the medium moving in the same direction as the wave itself.

If you study the diagram of the wave above, you'll see that longitudinal waves have the same
basic characteristics as transverse waves. They have wavelength (the distance between two
compressions), amplitude (the amount the medium is compressed) and frequency (the number
of compressions that pass a fixed point per second). The amplitude of a sound wave
determines its intensity, or loudness. The frequency of a sound wave determines its pitch,
with higher frequencies producing higher notes. For example, the open sixth string of a guitar
vibrates at a frequency of 82.407 hertz (cycles per second) and produces a lower pitch. The
open first string vibrates at a frequency of 329.63 hertz and produces a higher pitch.
As we'll see in the next section, the Doppler effect is directly related to the frequency of a
wave, whether it's made of water, light or sound.

Wave Frequency

Let's begin our dissection of the Doppler effect by considering a source that creates waves in
water at a certain frequency. This source produces a series of wave fronts, with each moving
outward in a sphere centered on the source. The distance between wave crests -- the
wavelength -- will remain the same all the way around the sphere. An observer in front of the
wave source will see the waves equally spaced as they approach. So will an observer located
behind the wave source.
Now let's consider a situation where the source is not stationary, but is moving to the right as
it produces waves. Because the source is moving, it begins to catch up to the wave crests on
one side while it moves away from the crests on the opposite side. An observer located in
front of the source will see the crests all bunched up. An observer located behind the source
will see the waves all stretched out. Remember, the frequency equals the number of waves
that pass a specific point per second, so the observer in front actually sees a higher frequency
than the observer in back of the source.
The scenario above describes waves formed in water, but it also applies to sound waves and
light waves. Sound waves are heard, not seen, so the observer will hear the bunched-up
waves as a higher-pitched sound, the stretched-out waves as a lower-pitched sound. For
example, consider a car traveling down a highway between two observers, as shown below.
The roar of the engine and friction between the tires and the road surface create a noise -vroom -- that can be heard by both observers and by the driver.
To the driver, this noise will not change. But the observer located in front of the car will hear
a higher-pitched noise. Why? Because the sound waves compress as the vehicle approaches
the observer located in front. This increases the frequency of the wave, and the pitch of the
vroom rises. The observer located behind the car will hear a lower-pitched noise because the
sound waves stretch out as the car recedes. This decreases the frequency of the wave, and the
pitch of the vroom falls.
Light waves are perceived as color, so the observer will sense the bunched-up waves as a
bluer color, the stretched-out waves as a redder color. For example, consider an astronomer
observing a galaxy through a telescope. If the galaxy is rushing toward Earth, the light waves
it produces will bunch up as it approaches the astronomer's telescope. This increases the
frequency of the wave, which shifts the colors of its spectral output toward the blue. If the
galaxy is rushing away from Earth, the light waves it produces will spread apart as it recedes
from the astronomer's telescope. This decreases the frequency of the wave, which shifts the
colors of its spectral output toward the red.
As you can imagine, astronomers routinely take advantage of the Doppler effect to measure
the speed at which planets, stars and galaxies are moving. But its usefulness isn't limited to
outer space. Doppler's discovery is integral to several applications right here on Earth.

The Origin of the Universe: A Shift in Thinking

In 1929, Edwin Hubble noticed that light coming from almost every galaxy he studied was
shifted, according to the Doppler effect, to the red end of the spectrum. He argued that only
galaxies moving away from our galaxy could produce these "redshifts." This led to the notion
that the universe was expanding and, ultimately, to the Big Bang theory.

Busting the Boom

The Doppler effect is used in many technologies that benefit people. But it can have a
negative impact, as well. For example, sonic booms, which are caused by supersonic aircraft,
can cause objectionable sounds and vibrations on the ground, which is why supersonic
airplanes are not allowed to fly over populated areas. Sonic booms are directly related to the
Doppler effect. They occur when airplanes, flying at the speed of sound or higher, actually fly
faster than the sound waves they are producing. All of the waves bunch up behind the craft, in
an extremely small space. When the bunched-up waves reach an observer, they are "heard"
all at once -- as a resounding boom.
The Air Force and NASA are experimenting with several inventions that help mitigate sonic
booms. One such invention is a spike extending from the nose of the airplane. This spike
essentially lengthens the plane and distributes the waves over a greater distance. This reduces
the boom experienced by an observer on the ground.

Practical Applications of the Doppler Effect

In the 160 years or so since Doppler first described the wave phenomenon that would cement
his place in history, several practical applications of the Doppler effect have emerged to serve
society. In all of these applications, the same basic thing is happening: A stationary
transmitter shoots waves at a moving object. The waves hit the object and bounce back. The
transmitter (now a receiver) detects the frequency of the returned waves. Based on the
amount of the Doppler shift, the speed of the object can be determined. Let's look at a few
specific examples.
Police Radar
The handheld radar guns used by police to check for speeding vehicles rely on the Doppler
effect. Here's how they work:
1. A police officer takes a position on the side of the road.
2. The officer aims his radar gun at an approaching vehicle. The gun sends
out a burst of radio waves at a particular frequency.
3. The radio waves strike the vehicle and bounce back toward the radar gun.
4. The radar gun measures the frequency of the returning waves. Because
the car is moving toward the gun, the frequency of the returning waves
will be higher than the frequency of the waves initially transmitted by the
gun. The faster the car's speed, the higher the frequency of the returning
wave.
5. The difference between the emitted frequency and the reflected frequency
is used to determine the speed of the vehicle. A computer inside the gun
performs the calculation instantly and displays a speed to the officer.

Doppler Radar

Meteorologists use a similar principle to read weather events. In this case, the stationary
transmitter is located in a weather station and the moving object being studied is a storm
system. This is what happens:
1. Radio waves are emitted from a weather station at a specific frequency.
2. The waves are large enough to interact with clouds and other atmospheric
objects. The waves strike objects and bounce back toward the station.
3. If the clouds or precipitation are moving away from the station, the
frequency of the waves reflected back decreases. If the clouds or
precipitation are moving toward the station, the frequency of the waves
reflected back increases.
4. Computers in the radar electronically convert Doppler shift data about the
reflected radio waves into pictures showing wind speeds and direction.

Doppler images are not the same as reflectivity images. Reflectivity images also rely on
radar, but they are not based on changes in wave frequency. Instead, a weather station sends
out a beam of energy, then measures how much of that beam is reflected back. This data is
used to form the precipitation intensity images we see all the time on weather maps, where
blue is light precipitation and red is heavy precipitation.
Doppler Echocardiogram
A traditional echocardiogram uses sound waves to produce images of the heart. In this
procedure, a radiologist uses a transducer to transmit and receive ultrasound waves, which are
reflected when they reach the edge of two structures with different densities. The image
produced by an echocardiogram shows the edges of heart structures, but it cannot measure
the speed of blood flowing through the heart. Doppler techniques must be incorporated to
provide this additional information. In a Doppler echocardiogram, sound waves of a certain
frequency are transmitted into the heart. The sound waves bounce off blood cells moving
through the heart and blood vessels. The movement of these cells, either toward or away from
the transmitted waves, results in a frequency shift that can be measured. This helps
cardiologists determine the speed and direction of blood flow in the heart.

Christian Doppler

Name Recognition
In 1992, Austria marked the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the Doppler effect by
releasing a stamp featuring the thin face of Christian Johann Doppler. Although Doppler
never could have imagined such a tribute, he did grasp the significance of his work from the
very beginning. In the 1842 paper that first described the phenomenon, Doppler offered this
prediction: "It is almost to be accepted with certainty that [the Doppler effect] will in the not
too distant future offer astronomers a welcome means to determine the movements and
distances of such stars which, because of their unmeasurable distances from us and the
consequent smallness of the parallactic angles, until this moment hardly presented the hope of
such measurements and determinations."
The "not too distant future" ended up being almost 100 years, which is how long it took for
the Doppler effect to have a major impact on cosmology, meteorology and medicine. But it
certainly made an impact and made Doppler one of the most recognized names in the history
of science.
For more information on the Doppler effect and related topics, visit the links on the next
page.
Doppler first described the discovery that would bear his name in a paper, published in 1842,
titled "ber das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne" ("Concerning the colored light of the double
stars and certain other stars of the heavens"). Six years later, a French physicist by the name
of Armand-Hippolyte-Louis Fizeau, unaware of Doppler's work, would publish a similar
paper describing the exact same phenomenon as it applied to the red- and blue-shifting of
stars. In fact, some scientists describe the shifting of light as the Doppler-Fizeau effect.

Doppler Ultrasound
A Doppler ultrasound test uses reflected sound waves to see how blood flows through a blood
vessel. It helps doctors evaluate blood flow through major arteries and veins, such as those of
the arms, legs, and neck. It can show blocked or reduced blood flow through narrowing in the
major arteries of the neck that could cause a stroke. It also can reveal blood clots in leg veins
(deep vein thrombosis, or DVT) that could break loose and block blood flow to the lungs
(pulmonary embolism). See pictures of a stroke and an embolus . During pregnancy,
Doppler ultrasound may be used to look at blood flow in an unborn baby (fetus) to check the
health of the fetus.
During Doppler ultrasound, a handheld instrument (transducer) is passed lightly over the skin
above a blood vessel. The transducer sends and receives sound waves that are amplified
through a microphone. The sound waves bounce off solid objects, including blood cells. The
movement of blood cells causes a change in pitch of the reflected sound waves (called the
Doppler effect). If there is no blood flow, the pitch does not change. Information from the
reflected sound waves can be processed by a computer to provide graphs or pictures that
represent the flow of blood through the blood vessels. These graphs or pictures can be saved
for future review or evaluation. See a picture of a Doppler ultrasound .
The four basic types of Doppler ultrasound are:

"Bedside" or continuous wave Doppler. This type uses the change in pitch of the
sound waves to provide information about blood flow through a blood vessel. The
doctor listens to the sounds produced by the transducer to evaluate the blood flow
through an area that may be blocked or narrowed. This type of ultrasound can be done
at the bedside in the hospital with a portable machine to provide a fast estimate of the
extent of blood vessel damage or disease.
Duplex Doppler. Duplex Doppler ultrasound uses standard ultrasound methods to
produce a picture of a blood vessel and the surrounding organs. Also, a computer
converts the Doppler sounds into a graph that gives information about the speed and
direction of blood flow through the blood vessel being evaluated.
Color Doppler. Color Doppler uses standard ultrasound methods to produce a picture
of a blood vessel. Also, a computer converts the Doppler sounds into colors that are
overlaid on the image of the blood vessel and that represent the speed and direction of
blood flow through the vessel. Power Doppler is a special type of color Doppler.
Power Doppler can get some images that are hard or impossible to get using standard
color Doppler. Power Doppler is most commonly used to evaluate blood flow through
vessels within solid organs.

Why It Is Done
Doppler ultrasound is done to:

Find blood clots and blocked or narrowed blood vessels in almost any part
of the body, especially in the neck, arms, and legs.
Evaluate leg pain that may be caused by intermittent claudication, a
condition caused by atherosclerosis of the lower extremities.

Evaluate blood flow after a stroke or other condition that might be caused
by a problem with blood flow. Evaluation of a stroke can be done through a
technique called transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound.

Evaluate abnormal veins causing varicose veins or other problems.

Map veins that may be used for blood vessel grafts. It also can check the
condition of grafts used to bypass blockage in an arm or leg.

Find out the amount of blood flow to a transplanted kidney or liver.

Monitor the flow of blood following blood vessel surgery.

Find out the presence, amount, and location of arterial plaque. Plaque in
the carotid arteries can reduce blood flow to the brain and may increase
the risk of stroke.

Guide treatment such as laser or radiofrequency ablation of abnormal

veins.

Check the health of a fetus. Blood flow in the umbilical cord, through the
placenta, or in the heart and brain of the fetus may be checked. This test
can show if the fetus is getting enough oxygen and nutrients. Doppler
ultrasound may be used to guide decisions during pregnancy when:

The fetus is smaller than normal for his or her gestational age (fetal
growth restriction). Blood flow through the large blood vessel in the
umbilical cord (the umbilical artery) can be looked at.

Rh sensitization has occurred. Blood flow through a blood vessel in

the brain (the middle cerebral artery, or MCA) can be used to
monitor fetal health.

The mother has other problems, such as preeclampsia or sickle cell

disease.

A transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) may be used in children with sickle cell disease to
evaluate their risk of stroke. In adults, TCD can be used to evaluate blood flow in the brain.

How It Is Done continued...

Gel is applied to the skin to promote the passage of the sound waves. The transducer is placed
in the gel and moved along the skin. You need to lie very still during the procedure. You may
hear sounds that represent the flow of blood through the blood vessels.
The test usually takes 30 to 60 minutes.

Arteries in the arms and legs

This test is often performed on both arms or both legs. Even if the suspected blood flow
problem is in only one limb, both may be tested for comparison. If your arms are being
tested, they will be tested first while you are lying down and then again while you are sitting.
Depending on which blood vessels are being tested, a blood pressure cuff may be wrapped
around one or both limbs so that the blood pressure can be taken at several different places.
When testing the legs, a blood pressure cuff may be wrapped first around the calf and then
around the thigh. The test may be done at several locations on your leg. When testing the
arms, the pressure cuff may be wrapped first around the forearm and then around the upper
arm.
Testing may be done before and after exercise, if you are healthy enough.

Veins in the arms and legs

For this test, you will be asked to lie down and breathe normally. You must lie very still. Any
changes in blood flow that occur as a response to your breathing patterns are noted.
The test may be repeated while the examiner presses on the veins close to the surface of your
skin to help detect a clot in the vein (called a compression maneuver). The examiner may do
this with your legs or arms in different positions to ensure that the blood supply is not
blocked in these positions. The examiner may also squeeze your calf or forearm to help blood
move more quickly through the veins (called an augmentation maneuver). This is done to
evaluate blood flow toward your heart.

While your legs are being tested, you may also be asked to try to breathe out strongly with
your nose pinched and your mouth closed (called a Valsalva maneuver). This maneuver
usually causes a sudden change in blood flow through the veins.

Arteries in the neck

You will be asked to lie down with a pillow underneath your head for support. The test is
performed on both sides of your neck, and then the results are compared to standard values to
determine the amount of blockage or narrowing of the arteries.

Transcranial ultrasound
For a transcranial ultrasound, the transducer is passed lightly over the skin at the base or side
of your skull.

During pregnancy
The transducer is moved back and forth on your belly until the doctor finds the blood vessel
that needs to be studied. After the doctor has found the blood vessel, it may take some time to
check the blood flow.

How It Feels
There is normally no discomfort involved with having a Doppler ultrasound test. The gel may
feel cold when it is put on your skin unless it is first warmed to body temperature. If your
blood pressure is taken during the test, you will feel pressure when the blood pressure cuff is
inflated.

Risks
There are no known risks associated with a Doppler ultrasound test. This test will not harm a
fetus.

Results
A Doppler ultrasound test uses reflected sound waves to see how blood flows through a blood
vessel.
Doppler ultrasound
Normal: There are no findings of significant narrowing or other abnormality in
any of the arteries examined.
There is no evidence of a clot in any of the veins examined. The size
and position of veins are normal.
Normal blood flow is found in the blood vessels that supply oxygen and

nutrients to a fetus.
Abnorm For continuous wave Doppler or duplex Doppler, differences in blood
al:
flow between the right and left sides of the body may be heard. At the
exact location where an artery is blocked or narrowed, the sound may
be high-pitched or turbulent. Blockage (such as from a blood clot), an
aneurysm, or narrowing of a blood vessel may be detected. The speed
of blood flow may be compared to standard values to find out the
amount of blockage or narrowing of the blood vessel.
A duplex Doppler ultrasound graph may show irregular flow that
means a blocked or narrowed blood vessel.
A color Doppler image may show a blocked or narrowed blood vessel
or an aneurysm.
In the veins, a blood clot may be indicated if blood flow does not
change in response to breathing or does not increase in response to
either a compression maneuver or Valsalva maneuver. Incomplete
blockage of a vein by a blood clot may be seen on color Doppler or
during a compression maneuver.
Abnormal veins, such as varicose veins, are seen.
Blood flow through the blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients
to a fetus is abnormally increased or decreased.

What Affects the Test

Reasons you may not be able to have the test or why the results may not be helpful include:

Bones above the area being studied or gas in the intestines.

Not being able to remain still during the test.

Extreme obesity.

Irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias) or heart disease, which may cause

changes in blood flow patterns even though the blood vessels are not
abnormal.

Having a cold arm or leg. Blood flow through that limb may be slowed.

Having an open wound in the area that needs to be viewed

How Ultrasound Works

There are many reasons to get an ultrasound. Perhaps you're pregnant, and your obstetrician
wants you to have an ultrasound to check on the developing baby or determine the due date.
Maybe you're having problems with blood circulation in a limb or your heart, and your doctor
has requested a Doppler ultrasound to look at the blood flow. Ultrasound has been a popular
medical imaging technique for many years.
Ultrasound or ultrasonography is a medical imaging technique that uses high frequency
sound waves and their echoes. The technique is similar to the echolocation used by bats,
whales and dolphins, as well as SONAR used by submarines.
In this article, we'll look at how ultrasound works, what type of ultrasound techniques are
available and what each technique can be used for.

Ultrasound image of a growing fetus (approximately 12 weeks old) inside a mother's

uterus. This is a side view of the baby, showing (right to left) the head, neck, torso and
legs.

What is Ultrasound?
In ultrasound, the following events happen:
1. The ultrasound machine transmits high-frequency (1 to 5 megahertz) sound pulses
into your body using a probe.
2. The sound waves travel into your body and hit a boundary between tissues (e.g.
between fluid and soft tissue, soft tissue and bone).
3. Some of the sound waves get reflected back to the probe, while some travel on further
until they reach another boundary and get reflected.
4. The reflected waves are picked up by the probe and relayed to the machine.
5. The machine calculates the distance from the probe to the tissue or organ (boundaries)
using the speed of sound in tissue (5,005 ft/s or1,540 m/s) and the time of the each
echo's return (usually on the order of millionths of a second).
6. The machine displays the distances and intensities of the echoes on the screen,
forming a two dimensional image like the one shown below.
In a typical ultrasound, millions of pulses and echoes are sent and received each second. The
probe can be moved along the surface of the body and angled to obtain various views.

An ultrasound machine

The Ultrasound Machine

A basic ultrasound machine has the following parts:

Transducer probe - probe that sends and receives the sound waves
Central processing unit (CPU) - computer that does all of the calculations and
contains the electrical power supplies for itself and the transducer probe

Transducer pulse controls - changes the amplitude, frequency and duration of the
pulses emitted from the transducer probe

Display - displays the image from the ultrasound data processed by the CPU

Keyboard/cursor - inputs data and takes measurements from the display

Disk storage device (hard, floppy, CD) - stores the acquired images

Printer - prints the image from the displayed data

The transducer probe is the main part of the ultrasound machine. The transducer probe makes
the sound waves and receives the echoes. It is, so to speak, the mouth and ears of the
ultrasound machine. The transducer probe generates and receives sound waves using a
principle called the piezoelectric (pressure electricity) effect, which was discovered by
Pierre and Jacques Curie in 1880. In the probe, there are one or more quartz crystals called
piezoelectric crystals. When an electric current is applied to these crystals, they change
shape rapidly. The rapid shape changes, or vibrations, of the crystals produce sound waves
that travel outward. Conversely, when sound or pressure waves hit the crystals, they emit
electrical currents. Therefore, the same crystals can be used to send and receive sound waves.

The probe also has a sound absorbing substance to eliminate back reflections from the probe
itself, and an acoustic lens to help focus the emitted sound waves.
Transducer probes come in many shapes and sizes, as shown in the photo above. The shape of
the probe determines its field of view, and the frequency of emitted sound waves determines
how deep the sound waves penetrate and the resolution of the image. Transducer probes may
contain one or more crystal elements; in multiple-element probes, each crystal has its own
circuit. Multiple-element probes have the advantage that the ultrasounc beam can be "steered"
by changing the timing in which each element gets pulsed; steering the beam is especially
important for cardiac ultrasound (see Basic Principles of Ultrasound for details on
transducers). In addition to probes that can be moved across the surface of the body, some
probes are designed to be inserted through various openings of the body (vagina, rectum,
esophagus) so that they can get closer to the organ being examined (uterus, prostate gland,
stomach); getting closer to the organ can allow for more detailed views.

The parts of an ultrasound machine

The CPU is the brain of the ultrasound machine. The CPU is basically a computer that
contains the microprocessor, memory, amplifiers and power supplies for the microprocessor
and transducer probe. The CPU sends electrical currents to the transducer probe to emit sound
waves, and also receives the electrical pulses from the probes that were created from the
returning echoes. The CPU does all of the calculations involved in processing the data. Once
the raw data are processed, the CPU forms the image on the monitor. The CPU can also store
the processed data and/or image on disk.

The transducer pulse controls allow the operator, called the ultrasonographer, to set and
change the frequency and duration of the ultrasound pulses, as well as the scan mode of the
machine. The commands from the operator are translated into changing electric currents that
are applied to the piezoelectric crystals in the transducer probe.

3-D ultrasound images

Different Types of Ultrasound

The ultrasound that we have described so far presents a two-dimensional image, or "slice," of
a three-dimensional object (fetus, organ). Two other types of ultrasound are currently in use,
3-D ultrasound imaging and Doppler ultrasound.
In the past several years, ultrasound machines capable of three-dimensional imaging have
been developed. In these machines, several two-dimensional images are acquired by moving
the probes across the body surface or rotating inserted probes. The two-dimensional scans are
then combined by specialized computer software to form 3-D images.
3-D imaging allows you to get a better look at the organ being examined and is best used for:

Early detection of cancerous and benign tumors (examining the prostate gland for
early detection of tumors, looking for masses in the colon and rectum, detecting breast
lesions for possible biopsies)
Visualizing a fetus to assess its development, especially for observing abnormal
development of the face and limbs
Visualizing blood flow in various organs or a fetus

Doppler ultrasound is based upon the Doppler Effect. When the object reflecting the
ultrasound waves is moving, it changes the frequency of the echoes, creating a higher
frequency if it is moving toward the probe and a lower frequency if it is moving away from
the probe. How much the frequency is changed depends upon how fast the object is moving.
Doppler ultrasound measures the change in frequency of the echoes to calculate how fast an
object is moving. Doppler ultrasound has been used mostly to measure the rate of blood flow
through the heart and major arteries.

Major Uses of Ultrasound

Ultrasound has been used in a variety of clinical settings, including obstetrics and
gynecology, cardiology and cancer detection. The main advantage of ultrasound is that
certain structures can be observed without using radiation. Ultrasound can also be done much
faster than X-rays or other radiographic techniques. Here is a short list of some uses for
ultrasound:

Obstetrics and Gynecology

measuring the size of the fetus to determine the due date

determining the position of the fetus to see if it is in the normal head down
position or breech

checking the position of the placenta to see if it is improperly developing

over the opening to the uterus (cervix)

seeing the number of fetuses in the uterus

checking the sex of the baby (if the genital area can be clearly seen)

checking the fetus's growth rate by making many measurements over

time

detecting ectopic pregnancy, the life-threatening situation in which the

baby is implanted in the mother's Fallopian tubes instead of in the uterus

determining whether there is an appropriate amount of amniotic fluid

cushioning the baby

monitoring the baby during specialized procedures - ultrasound has been

helpful in seeing and avoiding the baby during amniocentesis (sampling of
the amniotic fluid with a needle for genetic testing). Years ago, doctors use
to perform this procedure blindly; however, with accompanying use of
ultrasound, the risks of this procedure have dropped dramatically.

seeing tumors of the ovary and breast

Cardiology

seeing the inside of the heart to identify abnormal structures or functions

measuring blood flow through the heart and major blood vessels

Urology

measuring blood flow through the kidney

seeing kidney stones

detecting prostate cancer early

In addition to these areas, there is a growing use for ultrasound as a rapid imaging tool for
diagnosis in emergency rooms.

There have been many concerns about the safety of ultrasound. Because ultrasound is energy,
the question becomes "What is this energy doing to my tissues or my baby?" There have been
some reports of low birthweight babies being born to mothers who had frequent ultrasound
examinations during pregnancy. The two major possibilities with ultrasound are as follows:

development of heat -- tissues or water absorb the ultrasound energy

which increases their temperature locally
formation of bubbles (cavitation) -- when dissolved gases come out of
solution due to local heat caused by ultrasound

However, there have been no substantiated ill-effects of ultrasound documented in studies in

either humans or animals. This being said, ultrasound should still be used only when
necessary (i.e. better to be cautious).

An Ultrasound Examination
For an ultrasound exam, you go into a room with a technician and the ultrasound machine.
The following happens:
1. You remove your clothes (all of your clothes or only those over the area of interest).
2. The ultrasonographer drapes a cloth over any exposed areas that are not needed for
the exam.
3. The ultrasonographer applies a mineral oil-based jelly to your skin -- this jelly
eliminates air between the probe and your skin to help pass the sound waves into your
body.
4. The ultrasonographer covers the probe with a plastic cover.
5. He/she passes the probe over your skin to obtain the required images. Depending
upon the type of exam, the probe may be inserted into you.
6. You may be asked to change positions to get better looks at the area of interest.
7. After the images have been acquired and measurements taken, the data is stored on
disk. You may get a hard copy of the images.
8. You are given a towelette to clean up.
9. You get dressed.

10.

The Future of Ultrasound

11. As with other computer technology, ultrasound machines will most likely get faster

and have more memory for storing data. Transducer probes may get smaller, and more
insertable probes will be developed to get better images of internal organs. Most
likely, 3-D ultrasound will be more highly developed and become more popular. The
entire ultrasound machine will probably get smaller, perhaps even hand-held for use
in the field (e.g. paramedics, battlefield triage). One exciting new area of research is
the development of ultrasound imaging combined with heads-up/virtual reality-type

displays that will allow a doctor to "see" inside you as he/she is performing a
minimally invasive or non-invasive procedure such as amniocentesis or biopsy.

How MRI Works

Dr. Raymond Damadian, a physician and scientist, toiled for years trying to produce a
machine that could noninvasively scan the body with the use of magnets. Along with some
graduate students, he constructed a superconducting magnet and fashioned a coil of antenna
wires. Since no one wanted to be the first one in this contraption, Damadian volunteered to be
the first patient.
When he climbed in, however, nothing happened. Damadian was looking at years wasted on
a failed invention, but one of his colleagues bravely suggested that he might be too big for the
machine. A svelte graduate student volunteered to give it a try, and on July 3, 1977, the first
MRI exam was performed on a human being. It took almost five hours to produce one image,
and that original machine, named the "Indomitable," is now owned by the Smithsonian
Institution.
In just a few decades, the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners has grown
tremendously. Doctors may order MRI scans to help diagnose multiple sclerosis, brain
tumors, torn ligaments, tendonitis, cancer and strokes, to name just a few. An MRI scan is the
best way to see inside the human body without cutting it open.
Learn More
MRI Quiz
How X-rays Work

How fMRI Works

That may be little comfort to you when you're getting ready for an MRI exam. You're stripped
of your jewelry and credit cards and asked detailed questions about all the metallic
instruments you might have inside of you. You're put on a tiny slab and pushed into a hole
that hardly seems large enough for a person. You're subjected to loud noises, and you have to
lie perfectly still, or they're going to do this to you all over again. And with each minute, you
can't help but wonder what's happening to your body while it's in this machine. Could it
really be that this ordeal is truly better than another imaging technique, such as an X-ray or a
CAT scan? What has Raymond Damadian wrought?

MRI Magnets: the Major Players

The components of an MRI system

MRI scanners vary in size and shape, and some newer models have a greater degree of
openness around the sides. Still, the basic design is the same, and the patient is pushed into a
tube that's only about 24 inches (60 centimeters) in diameter [source: Hornak]. But what's in
there?
The biggest and most important component of an MRI system is the magnet. There is a
horizontal tube -- the same one the patient enters -- running through the magnet from front to
back. This tube is known as the bore. But this isn't just any magnet -- we're dealing with an
incredibly strong system here, one capable of producing a large, stable magnetic field.
The strength of a magnet in an MRI system is rated using a unit of measure known as a tesla.
Another unit of measure commonly used with magnets is the gauss (1 tesla = 10,000 gauss).
The magnets in use today in MRI systems create a magnetic field of 0.5-tesla to 2.0-tesla, or

5,000 to 20,000 gauss. When you realize that the Earth's magnetic field measures 0.5 gauss,
you can see how powerful these magnets are.
Most MRI systems use a superconducting magnet, which consists of many coils or
windings of wire through which a current of electricity is passed, creating a magnetic field of
up to 2.0 tesla. Maintaining such a large magnetic field requires a good deal of energy, which
is accomplished by superconductivity, or reducing the resistance in the wires to almost zero.
To do this, the wires are continually bathed in liquid helium at 452.4 degrees below zero
Fahrenheit (269.1 below zero degrees Celsius) [source: Coyne]. This cold is insulated by a
vacuum. While superconductive magnets are expensive, the strong magnetic field allows for
the highest-quality imaging, and superconductivity keeps the system economical to operate.

The Other Parts of an MRI Machine

MRI Developments
MRI machines are evolving so that they're more patient-friendly. For example, many
claustrophobic people simply can't stand the cramped confines, and the bore may not
accommodate obese people. There are more open scanners, which allow for greater space, but
these machines have weaker magnetic fields, meaning it may be easier to miss abnormal
tissue. Very small scanners for imaging specific body parts are also being developed.
Other advancements are being made in the field of MRI. Functional MRI (fMRI), for
example, creates brain maps of nerve cell activity second by second and is helping researchers
better understand how the brain works. Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) creates
images of flowing blood, arteries and veins in virtually any part of the body.
Two other magnets are used in MRI systems to a much lesser extent. Resistive magnets are
structurally like superconducting magnets, but they lack the liquid helium. This difference
means they require a huge amount of electricity, making it prohibitively expensive to operate
above a 0.3 tesla level. Permanent magnets have a constant magnetic field, but they're so
heavy that it would be difficult to construct one that could sustain a large magnetic field.
There are also three gradient magnets inside the MRI machine. These magnets are much
lower strength compared to the main magnetic field; they may range in strength from 180
gauss to 270 gauss. While the main magnet creates an intense, stable magnetic field around
the patient, the gradient magnets create a variable field, which allows different parts of the
body to be scanned.
Another part of the MRI system is a set of coils that transmit radiofrequency waves into the
patient's body. There are different coils for different parts of the body: knees, shoulders,
wrists, heads, necks and so on. These coils usually conform to the contour of the body part
being imaged, or at least reside very close to it during the exam. Other parts of the machine
include a very powerful computer system and a patient table, which slides the patient into the
bore. Whether the patient goes in head or feet first is determined by what part of the body
needs examining. Once the body part to be scanned is in the exact center, or isocenter, of the
magnetic field, the scan can begin

Hydrogen Atoms and Magnetic Moments

The steps of an MRI

When patients slide into an MRI machine, they take with them the billions of atoms that
make up the human body. For the purposes of an MRI scan, we're only concerned with the
hydrogen atom, which is abundant since the body is mostly made up of water and fat. These
atoms are randomly spinning, or precessing, on their axis, like a child's top. All of the atoms
are going in various directions, but when placed in a magnetic field, the atoms line up in the
direction of the field.
These hydrogen atoms have a strong magnetic moment, which means that in a magnetic
field, they line up in the direction of the field. Since the magnetic field runs straight down the
center of the machine, the hydrogen protons line up so that they're pointing to either the
patient's feet or the head. About half go each way, so that the vast majority of the protons
cancel each other out -- that is, for each atom lined up toward the feet, one is lined up toward
the head. Only a couple of protons out of every million aren't canceled out. This doesn't
sound like much, but the sheer number of hydrogen atoms in the body is enough to create
extremely detailed images. It's these unmatched atoms that we're concerned with now.

What Else Is Going on in an MRI Scan?

Next, the MRI machine applies a radio frequency (RF) pulse that is specific only to
hydrogen. The system directs the pulse toward the area of the body we want to examine.
When the pulse is applied, the unmatched protons absorb the energy and spin again in a
different direction. This is the "resonance" part of MRI. The RF pulse forces them to spin at a

particular frequency, in a particular direction. The specific frequency of resonance is called

the Larmour frequency and is calculated based on the particular tissue being imaged and the
strength of the main magnetic field.
At approximately the same time, the three gradient magnets jump into the act. They are
arranged in such a manner inside the main magnet that when they're turned on and off rapidly
in a specific manner, they alter the main magnetic field on a local level. What this means is
that we can pick exactly which area we want a picture of; this area is referred to as the
"slice." Think of a loaf of bread with slices as thin as a few millimeters -- the slices in MRI
are that precise. Slices can be taken of any part of the body in any direction, giving doctors a
huge advantage over any other imaging modality. That also means that you don't have to
move for the machine to get an image from a different direction -- the machine can
manipulate everything with the gradient magnets.
But the machine makes a tremendous amount of noise during a scan, which sounds like a
continual rapid hammering. That's due to the rising electrical current in the wires of the
gradient magnets being opposed by the main magnetic field. The stronger the main field, the
louder the gradient noise. In most MRI centers, you can bring a music player to drown out the
racket, and patients are given earplugs.
When the RF pulse is turned off, the hydrogen protons slowly return to their natural
alignment within the magnetic field and release the energy absorbed from the RF pulses.
When they do this, they give off a signal that the coils pick up and send to the computer
system. But how is this signal converted into a picture that means anything?

MRI Images and How They're Made

Doctors examine the contrasts on an MRI scan.

The MRI scanner can pick out a very small point inside the patient's body and ask it,
essentially, "What type of tissue are you?" The system goes through the patient's body point
by point, building up a map of tissue types. It then integrates all of this information to create
2-D images or 3-D models with a mathematical formula known as the Fourier transform.
The computer receives the signal from the spinning protons as mathematical data; the data is
converted into a picture. Thats the "imaging" part of MRI.

The MRI system uses injectable contrast, or dyes, to alter the local magnetic field in the
tissue being examined. Normal and abnormal tissue respond differently to this slight
alteration, giving us differing signals. These signals are transferred to the images; an MRI
system can display more 250 shades of gray to depict the varying tissue [source: Coyne]. The
images allow doctors to visualize different types of tissue abnormalities better than they could
without the contrast. We know that when we do "A," normal tissue will look like "B" -- if it
doesn't, there might be an abnormality.
An X-ray is very effective for showing doctors a broken bone, but if they want a look at a
patient's soft tissue, including organs, ligaments and the circulatory system, then they'll likely
want an MRI. And, as we mentioned on the last page, another major advantage of MRI is its
ability to image in any plane. Computer tomography (CT), for example, is limited to one
plane, the axial plane (in the loaf-of-bread analogy, the axial plane would be how a loaf of
bread is normally sliced). An MRI system can create axial images as well as sagitall (slicing
the bread side-to-side lengthwise) and coronal (think of the layers in a layer cake) images, or
any degree in between, without the patient ever moving.
But for these high-quality images, the patient can't move very much at all. MRI scans require
patients to hold still for 20 to 90 minutes or more. Even very slight movement of the part
being scanned can cause distorted images that will have to be repeated. And there's a high
cost to this kind of quality; MRI systems are very expensive to purchase, and therefore the
exams are also very expensive.
But are there any other costs? What about the patient's safety?

MRI Safety Concerns

This patient was cleared for take-off.

Maybe you're concerned about the long-term impact of having all your atoms mixed about,
but once you're out of the magnetic field, your body and its chemistry return to normal. There
are no known biological hazards to humans from being exposed to magnetic fields of the
strength used in medical imaging today. The fact that MRI systems dont use ionizing
radiation, as other imaging devices do, is a comfort to many patients, as is the fact that MRI
contrast materials have a very low incidence of side effects. Most facilities prefer not to
image pregnant women, due to limited research of the biological effects of magnetic fields on

a developing fetus. The decision of whether or not to scan a pregnant patient is made on a
case-by-case basis with consultation between the MRI radiologist and the patient's
obstetrician.
However, the MRI suite can be a very dangerous place if strict precautions are not observed.
Credit cards or anything else with magnetic encoding will be erased. Metal objects can
become dangerous projectiles if they are taken into the scan room. For example, paperclips,
pens, keys, scissors, jewelry, stethoscopes and any other small objects can be pulled out of
pockets and off the body without warning, at which point they fly toward the opening of the
magnet at very high speeds.
Big objects pose a risk, too -- mop buckets, vacuum cleaners, IV poles, patient stretchers,
heart monitors and countless other objects have all been pulled into the magnetic fields of the
MRI. In 2001, a young boy undergoing a scan was killed when an oxygen tank was pulled
into the magnetic bore [source: McNeil]. Once, a pistol flew out of a policeman's holster, the
force causing the gun to fire. No one was injured.
To ensure safety, patients and support staff should be thoroughly screened for metal objects
prior to entering the scan room. Often, however, patients have implants inside them that make
it very dangerous for them to be in the presence of a strong magnetic field. These include:

Metallic fragments in the eye, which are very dangerous as moving these fragments
could cause eye damage or blindness
Pacemakers, which may malfunction during a scan or even near the machine

Aneurysm clips in the brain, which could tear the very artery they were placed on to
repair if the magnet moves them

Dental implants, if magnetic

Most modern surgical implants, including staples, artificial joints and stents are made of nonmagnetic materials, and even if they're not, they may be approved for scanning. But let your
doctor know, as some orthopedic hardware in the area of a scan can cause distortions in the
image.

How X-rays Work

X-ray technology has allowed us to see inside the human body since 1895. As with many of
mankind's monumental discoveries, X-ray technology was invented completely by accident.
In 1895, a German physicist named Wilhelm Roentgen made the discovery while
experimenting with electron beams in a gas discharge tube. Roentgen noticed that a
fluorescent screen in his lab started to glow when the electron beam was turned on. This
response in itself wasn't so surprising -- fluorescent material normally glows in reaction to
electromagnetic radiation -- but Roentgen's tube was surrounded by heavy black cardboard.
Roentgen assumed this would have blocked most of the radiation.
Roentgen placed various objects between the tube and the screen, and the screen still glowed.
Finally, he put his hand in front of the tube, and saw the silhouette of his bones projected onto
the fluorescent screen. Immediately after discovering X-rays themselves, he had discovered
their most beneficial application.
Roentgen's remarkable discovery precipitated one of the most important medical
advancements in human history. X-ray technology lets doctors see straight through human
tissue to examine broken bones, cavities and swallowed objects with extraordinary ease.
Modified X-ray procedures can be used to examine softer tissue, such as the lungs, blood
vessels or the intestines.

What's an X-Ray?
X-rays are basically the same thing as visible light rays. Both are wavelike forms of
electromagnetic energy carried by particles called photons (see How Light Works for
details). The difference between X-rays and visible light rays is the energy level of the
individual photons. This is also expressed as the wavelength of the rays.

Our eyes are sensitive to the particular wavelength of visible light, but not to the shorter
wavelength of higher energy X-ray waves or the longer wavelength of the lower energy radio
waves.
Visible light photons and X-ray photons are both produced by the movement of electrons in
atoms. Electrons occupy different energy levels, or orbitals, around an atom's nucleus. When
an electron drops to a lower orbital, it needs to release some energy -- it releases the extra
energy in the form of a photon. The energy level of the photon depends on how far the
electron dropped between orbitals. (See this page for a detailed description of this process.)
When a photon collides with another atom, the atom may absorb the photon's energy by
boosting an electron to a higher level. For this to happen, the energy level of the photon has
to match the energy difference between the two electron positions. If not, the photon can't
shift electrons between orbitals.

The atoms that make up your body tissue absorb visible light photons very well. The energy
level of the photon fits with various energy differences between electron positions. Radio
waves don't have enough energy to move electrons between orbitals in larger atoms, so they
pass through most stuff. X-ray photons also pass through most things, but for the opposite
reason: They have too much energy.
Other X-Ray Uses
The most important contributions of X-ray technology have been in the world of medicine, but X-rays
have played a crucial role in a number of other areas as well. X-rays have been pivotal in research
involving quantum mechanics theory, crystallography and cosmology. In the industrial world, X-ray
scanners are often used to detect minute flaws in heavy metal equipment. And X-ray scanners have
become standard equipment in airport security, of course.

They can, however, knock an electron away from an atom altogether. Some of the energy
from the X-ray photon works to separate the electron from the atom, and the rest sends the
electron flying through space. A larger atom is more likely to absorb an X-ray photon in this
way, because larger atoms have greater energy differences between orbitals -- the energy
level more closely matches the energy of the photon. Smaller atoms, where the electron
orbitals are separated by relatively low jumps in energy, are less likely to absorb X-ray
photons.
The soft tissue in your body is composed of smaller atoms, and so does not absorb X-ray
photons particularly well. The calcium atoms that make up your bones are much larger, so
they are better at absorbing X-ray photons.

The X-Ray Machine

The heart of an X-ray machine is an electrode pair -- a cathode and an anode -- that sits
inside a glass vacuum tube. The cathode is a heated filament, like you might find in an
older fluorescent lamp. The machine passes current through the filament, heating it up. The
heat sputters electrons off of the filament surface. The positively-charged anode, a flat disc
made of tungsten, draws the electrons across the tube.

The voltage difference between the cathode and anode is extremely high, so the electrons fly
through the tube with a great deal of force. When a speeding electron collides with a tungsten
atom, it knocks loose an electron in one of the atom's lower orbitals. An electron in a higher
orbital immediately falls to the lower energy level, releasing its extra energy in the form of a
photon. It's a big drop, so the photon has a high energy level -- it is an X-ray photon.

The free electron collides with the tungsten atom, knocking an

electron out of a lower orbital. A higher orbital electron fills the
empty position, releasing its excess energy as a photon.

Free electrons can also generate photons without hitting an atom. An atom's nucleus may
attract a speeding electron just enough to alter its course. Like a comet whipping around the
sun, the electron slows down and changes direction as it speeds past the atom. This "braking"
action causes the electron to emit excess energy in the form of an X-ray photon.

The free electron is attracted to the tungsten atom nucleus. As

the electron speeds past, the nucleus alters its course. The
electron loses energy, which it releases as an X-ray photon.

Contrast Media

In a normal X-ray picture, most soft tissue doesn't show up clearly. To focus in on organs, or
to examine the blood vessels that make up the circulatory system, doctors must introduce
contrast media into the body.
Contrast media are liquids that absorb X-rays more effectively than the surrounding tissue. To
bring organs in the digestive and endocrine systems into focus, a patient will swallow a
contrast media mixture, typically a barium compound. If the doctors want to examine blood
vessels or other elements in the circulatory system, they will inject contrast media into the
patient's bloodstream.
Contrast media are often used in conjunction with a fluoroscope. In fluoroscopy, the X-rays
pass through the body onto a fluorescent screen, creating a moving X-ray image. Doctors may
use fluoroscopy to trace the passage of contrast media through the body. Doctors can also
record the moving X-ray images on film or video.
The high-impact collisions involved in X-ray production generate a lot of heat. A motor
rotates the anode to keep it from melting (the electron beam isn't always focused on the same
area). A cool oil bath surrounding the envelope also absorbs heat.
The entire mechanism is surrounded by a thick lead shield. This keeps the X-rays from
escaping in all directions. A small window in the shield lets some of the X-ray photons escape
in a narrow beam. The beam passes through a series of filters on its way to the patient.
A camera on the other side of the patient records the pattern of X-ray light that passes all the
way through the patient's body. The X-ray camera uses the same film technology as an
ordinary camera, but X-ray light sets off the chemical reaction instead of visible light. (See
How Photographic Film Works to learn about this process.)
Generally, doctors keep the film image as a negative. That is, the areas that are exposed to
more light appear darker and the areas that are exposed to less light appear lighter. Hard
material, such as bone, appears white, and softer material appears black or gray. Doctors can
bring different materials into focus by varying the intensity of the X-ray beam.

Are X-Rays Bad For You?

X-rays are a wonderful addition to the world of medicine; they let doctors peer inside a
patient without any surgery at all. It's much easier and safer to look at a broken bone using Xrays than it is to open a patient up.
But X-rays can also be harmful. In the early days of X-ray science, a lot of doctors would
expose patients and themselves to the beams for long periods of time. Eventually, doctors and
patients started developing radiation sickness, and the medical community knew something
was wrong.
The problem is that X-rays are a form of ionizing radiation. When normal light hits an atom,
it can't change the atom in any significant way. But when an X-ray hits an atom, it can knock
electrons off the atom to create an ion, an electrically-charged atom. Free electrons then
collide with other atoms to create more ions.

An ion's electrical charge can lead to unnatural chemical reactions inside cells. Among other
things, the charge can break DNA chains. A cell with a broken strand of DNA will either die
or the DNA will develop a mutation. If a lot of cells die, the body can develop various
diseases. If the DNA mutates, a cell may become cancerous, and this cancer may spread. If
the mutation is in a sperm or an egg cell, it may lead to birth defects. Because of all these
risks, doctors use X-rays sparingly today.
Even with these risks, X-ray scanning is still a safer option than surgery. X-ray machines are
an invaluable tool in medicine, as well as an asset in security and scientific research. They are
truly one of the most useful inventions of all time.

How CAT Scans Work

a CAT scan machine forms a full three-dimensional computer model of a patient's

internal body.

a CAT scan machine forms a full three-dimensional computer model of a patient's internal
body.
CAT scans take the idea of conventional X-ray imaging to a new level. Instead of finding the
outline of bones and organs, a CAT scan machine forms a full three-dimensional computer
model of a patient's insides. Doctors can even examine the body one narrow slice at a time to
pinpoint specific areas.
In this article, we'll examine the basic idea of CAT scans. While the computer technology
involved is fairly advanced, the fundamental concept at work is really very simple.

The Basic Idea

Computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan machines produce X-rays, a powerful form of
electromagnetic energy. X-ray photons are basically the same thing as visible light photons,
but they have much more energy. This higher energy level allows X-ray beams to pass
straight through most of the soft material in the human body. (See How X-Rays Work to find
how X-rays do this, as well as how X-ray machines produce X-ray photons).
A conventional X-ray image is basically a shadow: You shine a "light" on one side of the
body, and a piece of film on the other side registers the silhouette of the bones.
Shadows give you an incomplete picture of an object's shape. Imagine you are standing in
front of a wall, holding a pineapple against your chest with your right hand and a banana out
to your side with your left hand. Your friend is looking only at the wall, not at you. If there's a
lamp in front of you, your friend will see the outline of you holding the banana, but not the
pineapple -- the shadow of your torso blocks the pineapple. If the lamp is to your left, your
friend will see the outline of the pineapple, but not the banana.
The same thing happens in a conventional X-ray image. If a larger bone is directly between
the X-ray machine and a smaller bone, the larger bone may cover the smaller bone on the
film. In order to see the smaller bone, you would have to turn your body or move the X-ray
machine.
In order to know that you are holding a pineapple and a banana, your friend would have to
see your shadow in both positions and form a complete mental image. This is the basic idea
of computer aided tomography. In a CAT scan machine, the X-ray beam moves all around the
patient, scanning from hundreds of different angles. The computer takes all this information
and puts together a 3-D image of the body.

A scanned liver slice

Scanning Procedure
The CAT machine looks like a giant doughnut tipped on its side. The patient lies down on a
platform, which slowly moves through the hole in the machine. The X-ray tube is mounted
on a movable ring around the edges of the hole. The ring also supports an array of X-ray
detectors directly opposite the X-ray tube.
A motor turns the ring so that the X-ray tube and the X-ray detectors revolve around the
body. Each full revolution scans a narrow, horizontal "slice" of the body. The control system
moves the platform farther into the hole so the tube and detectors can scan the next slice.
In this way, the machine records X-ray slices across the body in a spiral motion. The
computer varies the intensity of the X-rays in order to scan each type of tissue with the
optimum power. After the patient passes through the machine, the computer combines all the
information from each scan to form a detailed image of the body. It's not usually necessary to
scan the entire body, of course. More often, doctors will scan only a small section.
Since they examine the body slice by slice, from all angles, CAT scans are much more
comprehensive than conventional X-rays. Today, doctors use CAT scans to diagnose and treat
a wide variety of ailments, including head trauma, cancer and osteoporosis. They are an
invaluable tool in modern medicine.