IONISING AND NON-IONISING RADIATION IN MEDICINE
Ionizing radiation is a type of radiation that carries sufficient energy to remove electrons from atoms or molecules (Železnik, Constantin, Schneider, Mays, Zakrzewska, and Diaconu, 2016).The radiation is made up of energetic ions or atoms that move at high speed and electromagnetic waves that are usually on the upper end of the electromagnetic spectrum. Non-ionising radiation, on the other hand, is a type of radiation that doesn’t carry enough energy to remove an electron from an atom or a molecule. Non-ionising radiation only has the power to move an electron to a higher energy state. Both ionizing and non-ionising radiation can be applied in medicine to either diagnose or treat different illnesses.
X-rays are ionizing and are used in medicine to generate images of structures inside the body of a patient. X-rays have high energy, and therefore, soft tissues such as skin cannot absorb its rays. Dense materials in the body, like bones, can absorb the rays-rays are consequently used in the detection of bone fractures. The x-rays traveling through the body are also passed through an x-ray detector, and an image is formed that represent “shadows” created by the objects inside the body (Wang, Peng, and Summers, 2018)
Infrared thermography is non-ionisin. They detect heat patterns and blood flow in body tissues by the use of an infrared camera (Soerensen, and Pedersen, 2015) An example of the use of the infrared thermography is the detection of fractures in children. Instead of exposing children to ionizing radiation, Infrared thermography is used. Small measurable temperature changes as a result of the fractures may effectively add to the clinical picture.
Ultrasounds are non-ionising and use sound waves to produce images inside the body. It is useful in detecting any change in the appearance of body organs and the detection of the cause of pain in the body’s internal organs (Atkinson, Bowra, Lambert, Lamprecht, Noble, and Jarman, 2015) Fracture sonography uses ultrasounds to detect fractures on the born surfaces. The method is suitable for detecting fractures of the wrist, elbow, shoulder, and clavicle. It is, however, unsuitable for patients above 12 years because all fractures cause alterations of the borne surface, and joint fractures are generally rare at such ages.
A computerized tomography(CT) scan is a type of ionizing radiations that combine a series of x-ray images taken from different angles around the patient’s body. CT scan is used in the detection of bone fractures in the body. It usually uses computer processing to create cross-sectional images of the body structures (Alvarado, 2016). CT scan images are better than x-rays images because they provide detailed information. CT scan is used in the detection of bone fractures in the body.
Both ionizing and non-ionising radiation is used in the detection of fractures of the body. The choice of the type of radiation to be used depends on the age of the patient, as well as the kind of images required. Ultrasounds and Infrared thermography are mainly used in pediatric emergencies. CT scan, on the other hand, is preferred to x-rays since it produces detailed information (Cole, Ross, Tilley, Vargo-Gogola, and Roeder, 2015)
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Soerensen, D.D., and Pedersen, L.J., 2015. Infrared skin temperature measurements for monitoring health in pigs: a review. Acta veterinaria scandinavica, 57(1), p.5.
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Alvarado, A., 2016. How to improve the clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis in resource-limited settings? World Journal of Emergency Surgery, 11(1), p.16.
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