Quote:
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins
CT scans are like hundreds of X-rays of a cross-section of your body. When using contrast of a radio opaque dye, it can determine soft tissue abnormalities, like a pulmonary embolism.
MRI uses a magnetic field to realign polar (i.e. water molecules) back and forth. That reorientation creates an image. It's why MRI is good for assessing soft-tissue injury, like a ligament tear. Conversely, bone does not image well on MRI due to lack of water molecules.
MRI has better spatial resolution than CT. Both have their benefits.
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CT generally has better spatial resolution (distinguish objects that are near to each other). MRI has better contract resolution (distinguishing similar types of tissue near each other, like tumor vs normal tissue)
A big advantage to CT is how quick it is.
A big problem with X-ray is shadowing. Meaning an object obscures objects behind it. In a CT the X-Rays rotate around the body allowing a 3-D reconstruction