General x-rays can be performed on these areas:

• abdomen
• chest
• pelvis/hip
• ribs
• skull/sinuses/facial bones/orbits
• spine: cervical, thoracic and/or lumbar
• upper or lower extremity

If the patient is either too ill to come to the Radiology Department, or is having a surgical procedure performed, a portable x-ray machine can be taken to the patient's bedside or operating room table.
 
General radiology procedures with or without fluoroscopy include:

• arthrogram
• digestive tract studies: esophagus, stomach, small bowel, and colon
• feeding and speech studies
• IVP
• myelogram
• sialogram
• feeding tube insertion
• voiding cystogra

Ultrasonography utilizes a high-frequency sound beam to visualize the internal structures. The sound beam is directed into the body and the resulting densities of body tissue are analyzed to produce the diagnostic image.
 
Ultrasound is a versatile imaging modality. Ultrasound scanning can be performed on many different parts of the body. Our exams commonly focus on the following:

• neonatal brain (portable ultrasound exams in the Special Care Nursery)
• abdominal organs (i.e. liver, gallbladder, kidneys, pancreas, etc.)
• pelvic organs (i.e. uterus, ovaries, bladder, testes)
• small parts (i.e. thyroid gland, opthalmic, breast, etc.)
• vascular (i.e. extremity vessels, abdominal vessels)

Computed tomography uses conventional x-rays, a circular array of special detectors, advanced electronics and powerful computers to produce internal tissue pictures of the human body. X-ray beams originating from the scanner's x-ray tube go through the body and are picked up by the scan detectors. The detector array, located within the doughnut-shaped gantry of the CT scanner, rotates in a spiral motion around the patient. The energy picked up by the detectors is fed into a computer that generates the cross-sectional x-ray pictures.
 
Computed technology procedures include:

• pelvis
• spine
• myelogram
• head/neck
• chest
• extremities
• abdomen
• biopsies

In the special procedures lab, a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are performed using fluoroscopy, digital angiography and cine film recording. A majority of the procedures involve inserting small catheters into blood vessels and recording x-ray images of the vascular anatomy while a special substance is injected to highlight the vessels of interest. 

The abdominal vessels, cerebral vessels, and the heart are often studied this way. Congenital heart disease is a common indication for diagnostic imaging in the special procedures lab. The procedures can provide information about pressures within the heart chambers as well as the opportunity for interventional therapeutic procedures such as angioplasties, stent insertions, embolizations or coil placements. Other procedures such as biopsies, gastric tube and drainage tube insertions use the lab for its fluoroscopy and anesthetic equipment.
 
The exams in the special procedures room combine cardiac procedures, vascular procedures, and general radiology intervention.
 
Cardiac exams include: 

• Diagnostic cardiac catheterization
• Interventional cardiac catheterization
• Cardiac biopsies
• Transesophageal echocardiograms (TEE)

Vascular procedures include: 

• Cerebral angiography
• Visceral angiography
• Venograms
• Vascular interventions including embolization and stenting

General radiology Intervention procedures include: 

• Gastric/drainage tube insertions and replacement
• Esophageal dilatation
• Transcutaneous abscess drainages
• Transcutaneous renal/liver biopsies (ultrasound-guided)
• Transcutaneous nephrostomy
• Joint injections
• Sialograms

Magnetic resonance imaging is based on the magnetic behaviour of hydrogen atoms in human tissues when they are placed in a magnetic field and excited by radio frequency pulses. After they are excited, the hydrogen atoms return to their normal state by emitting energy that is monitored. 
 
This process is characterized by relaxation times, which reflect the chemical and physical properties of tissues (such as temperature and flow) and that contain a lot of information which cannot be obtained by any other imaging modality using ionizing radiation (x-rays). In medical diagnostics, the main uses for the MRI are to study the soft tissues of the central nervous system, spine, extremities, bones, and joints.
 
MRI procedures include:

• abdomen
• breast
• cardiac
• chest
• extremities
• head/neck
• joints
• pelvis
• spine

Nuclear medicine is a diagnostic service that uses radiopharmaceuticals to study organ function and blood flow. Radiopharmaceuticals are chemicals that are tagged with a radioactive tracer. These chemicals have special properties that cause them to be attracted to specific sites or organs in the body. Depending on the examination, the radioactive tracer is either injected into the bloodstream, ingested or inhaled by the patient. A sophisticated detector, called a gamma camera, is linked to a computer and is used to detect the distribution of the radioactive tracer in the patient.

Computed radiography (CR) with luminescence imaging plates (IP) is routinely used in medical applications. Imaging plates are exposed similar to radiographic films. Colour centres formed during x-ray exposure can be detected directly by a laser scanner without any development process. The scanner sends the information detected to a computer that generates the x-ray image. Imaging plates can be erased and reused up to 1,000 times. The exposure process and the handling of the IP's is designed to achieve the same or better image quality than film systems. 

General radiography

Radiographic and fluoroscopic procedures send an x-ray beam into the body. The portion of the x-ray beam not absorbed by the body (remnant radiation), is used to expose medical x-ray film that produces the diagnostic image. 

Bone and soft tissue structure do not require any special preparations for the procedure. However, a contrasting substance is required to increase the visibility of the shape, size and position, and functional status in the organ and circulatory systems. The most common substances used are iodinated solutions and barium sulphate suspensions.

A portable x-ray machine operates on the same principle as general radiography machines and is small enough to be moved around the hospital. A portable x-ray machine is used in situations when the x-ray must be taken at the patient's location rather than in the x-ray department.