radiology admission essay example

radiology admission essay example

The Importance of Radiology in Modern Healthcare

1. Introduction

We live in a world which has taken on a fast pace like never before. Everything, if paid enough good attention to, one can see the great discrepancy in how it was earlier and how it has become now. Today, it may be just impossible to do anything without the help of technological advancement. Unlike olden days where most of the treatment was based on assumption, the healthcare field has seen radical changes in technology. Medical imaging has played a significant role in the improvement of various aspects of diagnostic and treatment. It’s a fact that at some point in time, everyone would have had a medical imaging procedure. This is the reason I chose the topic “The Importance of Medical Imaging in Modern Healthcare” because it is something relevant to all of us today and in the near future. Out of the many imaging methods such as x-ray imaging, ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging; my essay will mainly focus on the mighty field of the x-ray and computed tomography. Most of us wouldn’t have known that 1895 marked the beginning of medical imaging with Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen’s discovery of x-rays. Just weeks after his discovery, x-rays were being used in a wide variety of applications in medical fields. It was employed for military surgeries during the 1st World War and in the 1920s, the x-ray was an established method for diagnosis and disease management. Today, x-ray plays a key role in the diagnosis and management of patients. It has moved from film screens to more advanced digital image capture and storage. Digital radiography has made workflow efficiency improved with the use of intelligent image management. Time taken to retrieve old x-ray films has been terminated as it has paved the way for the use of CR plates that can absorb the x-ray and transfer the image directly into the computer. High-quality images are produced with the use of digital radiography and this has made it a tool for analysis and decision making in various clinical situations. This method is very cost-effective to both the patient and the payers and serves to be a way to obtain much information for a low cost. With the level of technology present now, there is an increasing scope in the near future to create a new era of molecular imaging using x-rays which may come to play a useful role for therapy and treatment.

2. The Role of Radiology in Diagnosing and Treating Diseases

Perhaps more so than with other medical specialties, the practice of radiology is deeply dependent on technology and the development of new techniques. Simulation, 3D printing, and virtual reality are quickly transforming the way radiologists think about medical imaging, narrative, and clinical decision making. These are vital planks in the infrastructure upon changes in personalized medicine and treatment centered on the individual patient. In cancer treatment, we are at the threshold of remarkable changes in possibilities and outcomes. The discovery of specific genetic and molecular changes has led to the development of substances known as probes, which when combined with specific types of imaging, will enable physicians to travel inside the body and see how an individual’s tumor is reacting to a particular treatment. This can result in a decisively accurate assessment of treatment efficacy, sparing the patient lost time on an unfruitful regimen. An example of treatment being more disease-specific and not a one-size-fits-all is the use of low-dose CT for lung cancer screening in high-risk patients. Data from the National Lung Screening Trial has shown a twenty percent reduction in mortality when compared to chest x-ray, and patients with early-stage disease have the opportunity to be cured by removal of the nodule. This is compared to late-stage disease that may only prolong life and/or improve quality of life. The improvement in imaging modalities and the development of new techniques are vastly gratifying intellectual pursuits for the traditionally inquisitive and nerdy radiologist.

One might say the journey into modern-day radiology began on November 8, 1895 when Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen discovered x-rays. A mere three weeks later, Emil Herman Grubbe took the first radiograph of a breast cancer patient at Chicago’s Evangelical Deaconess Hospital, and the use of x-rays in cancer diagnosis and treatment began. It was a spark to what has become a raging wildfire of changes and advances, including today’s burgeoning field of interventional radiology. Just over a hundred years from that first breast cancer study, a man diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and severe chest pain has options, and a radiologist has become the doctor’s doctor. With the technological advances of the past decade, many computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging procedures are now done with image-guided biopsies and interventions to offer patients less invasive alternatives to surgery.

Radiology is an essential part of medicine today. It encompasses not only traditional x-rays, but also fluoroscopy, ultrasound, CT, MRI, and nuclear medicine. By its very nature, radiology is a technologically driven, continually evolving field that makes it a very exciting time to be part of it. The technological advances which have already revolutionized the practice of medicine in the past two decades have been led by the ability to make smaller and more precise diagnoses. Since radiology is at the crux of these diagnoses, radiology has become integral to patient care in all medical specialties. In this paper, I will discuss the many facets and faced changes of radiology over the years, and my personal experiences that have led me to a career in this exciting and rewarding field.

3. The Advancements in Radiology Technology

Radiology science has rapidly evolved over the years, and the technology chapter has been a never-ending quest. This evolution has changed the way in which radiology is practiced, and there is a need to continue to discuss the ethical administration of these technologies. Technological advancements in the past three decades have revolutionized medical imaging. It has changed the scope of radiography from conventional invasive techniques to modern minimally invasive techniques. Modern radiology has taken the form of digital imaging modalities with the traditional X-ray. The other forms are computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, and nuclear medicine studies. With the invention of digital radiography, the film has been totally replaced by a digital capture plate or type of detectors. Digital radiography has improved the image quality with minimum compression and less radiation, and it has also improved the storage and retrieval of images. Computed tomography has been a great invention with 3D images of the body, no superimposition of structures, and great quality of soft tissue and bone. There has been an invention of dual-energy CT, which is to take an image at two different energy levels. This technology has been of greater use for neuro science and to differentiate renal stones. Nuclear medicine studies with SPECT and PET have been a great advancement to diagnose cancer and neuro science-related illnesses. An injection of radionuclides and in vitro labeling of cells has taken the form of molecular imaging. Magnetic resonance imaging with superconducting magnets and higher strength magnets has been an excellent tool for imaging the brain and musculoskeletal system.

4. The Impact of Radiology on Patient Care

Changing the nature of certain surgeries is another way that radiology is changing patient care. Many types of surgery have become obsolete with the development of less invasive procedures guided by imaging. A good example of this is the treatment of kidney stones. In the past, a patient would require open surgery to remove a kidney stone. Today, the treatment of choice is shockwave lithotripsy. This is a noninvasive procedure in which high energy shockwaves are directed at the stone, and the patient passes the fragments. Another example is arthroscopy, a common procedure in which a surgeon examines and treats damage to the inside of a joint. This is now done with great precision using an instrument called a c-arm, which is a type of fluoroscope. This has replaced the conventional method of open surgery with much less risk, pain and recovery time for the patient. All of these are positive changes in patient care, with better methods for diagnosis and treatment that are both safer and less painful.

Other technology, such as ultrasound and MRI, have an impact on the way certain diseases are diagnosed and treated. A good example is uterine fibroid embolization (UFE). Before the development of UFE, many women with symptomatic uterine fibroids would undergo hysterectomy, a major surgical procedure with a long recovery period. Today, many of these women can be treated as outpatients, using only local anesthesia. A tiny catheter is inserted into an artery in the leg and directed to the blood supply of the fibroid. Small particles are injected into the blood vessel that supplies the fibroid, blocking it off. This causes the fibroid to shrink and die. UFE has a high success rate, with 85-90% of women experiencing significant improvement or complete resolution of symptoms. This procedure would not be possible without the catheter-directed technology and imaging provided by interventional radiology.

Radiology has also changed patient care by improving the accuracy and speed of diagnosis. In the early 1900s, the leading cause of death was infection. Today, heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death. According to the American Cancer Society, this year there will be 1,228,600 new cases of cancer. Of these, about 650,000 will die of the disease. The key to curing cancer is early diagnosis and treatment. Radiological examinations have increased the ability to diagnose diseases earlier in the course of the disease, and often before symptoms develop. This is especially true with x-ray and screening mammography. For example, a patient with colon cancer has a much greater chance of survival and cure if the cancer is diagnosed at its beginning stage before it has spread to other areas of the body. This is the goal of all cancer diagnosis, and radiology is instrumental in achieving this.

5. Conclusion: Embracing the Future of Radiology

Are there exciting times for radiology? As we transition to the new millennium, high modernization in healthcare and higher demand for better-quality patient care has raised the profile of radiology. This has, in part, come from a steady increase in private sector medicine and higher expectations from patients about the type and quality of treatment they receive. At the same time, the uncertainty of healthcare funding, part of a global movement toward evidence-based practice, has prompted the need to appraise the productivity and efficiency of all aspects of the healthcare system, with a view to improving outcomes for patients (5). This is particularly relevant to radiology because of its heavy reliance on technology and fears that the efficiency and productivity of radiology can be assessed by cost per examination and waiting times, rather than the accuracy and quality of interpretation. So why is the demand for radiology rising and how should we embrace the future?