There is a wide variety of medical imaging tests available today, such as CR, DR, DSA, CT, MRI, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, etc. Some of these imaging tests can be damaging to the body to varying degrees, plus, their cost varies from high to low. Therefore, it is quite necessary to avoid unnecessary medical imaging tests, which is good for both the body and the family’s economy. Careful Preparation for the Examination Careful preparation for the examination is a prerequisite for avoiding repeated examinations, therefore, it is quite necessary for you to consult about the examination before you undergo medical imaging. Usually, for X-ray radiography examination of the limbs and chest walking to do without much preparation. On the other hand, for patients who are proposed to be diagnosed with urinary stones and intend to undergo abdominal plain film or intravenous pyelogram, it is necessary to prepare the bowel the night before and perform the examination the next day without eating or drinking. Ditto for barium enema. For upper gastrointestinal barium meal and digital subtraction angiography (DSA), only fasting is required. Once a patient has had a barium meal, he or she should not proceed to have a lumbar spine and abdominal plain film, as well as an abdominal CT exam, in order to guard against blocking lesions and artifacts due to the barium. If you go to the Department of Nuclear Medicine for a PET/CT examination, not only can not eat or drink, but also to test your blood sugar, and only to control your blood sugar within a certain range to be able to carry out this nearly 10,000 yuan of examination, and before the examination to empty the bladder, and can not be stained with urine on the clothes and pants. On the contrary, before the abdominal CT examination, it must be timed according to the doctor’s requirements, regular and quantitative oral administration of 1% of the contrast agent, timed examination, the purpose of which is to make the various anatomical full display, in order to facilitate the diagnostic physician to identify. If CT is utilized for coronary imaging, the heart rate should also be controlled at about 65 beats and the heart rate should be aligned so that the coronary arteries made will be reliable. Women must hold their urine during the gynecological examination of ultrasound so that the doctor can get the correct judgment. In addition to some of the above requirements, it is to remove all metal clasps, zippers, necklaces, jade pendants, bras, as well as plasters, paints, etc., in the examination area, that is, before doing female pelvic MRI, also have to take out the birth control ring before the examination, to avoid artifacts to cover up the condition, as well as to cause it to be shifted or burned. Actively cooperate with the doctor During the medical imaging examination, you must listen to the doctor’s call, especially in the grasp of the exhalation and inhalation. During a chest X-ray, the doctor asks you to inhale in order to fill your lungs, and then asks you to hold your breath in order to minimize blurring artifacts caused by the movement of the lungs as you breathe. Similarly, when doing a plain abdominal radiograph, the same is true. During a CT or MRI of the chest or abdomen, this is not only to minimize motion artifacts, but more importantly, to guard against discontinuities in the scan due to your breathing, which could lead to a missed diagnosis. When performing the last radiograph of the urinary tract, wait patiently for the doctor’s instruction to hold your breath when he or she sees the contrast material running to a certain point, and you have to respond immediately to avoid missing a valuable peristaltic wave, as well as the barium meal of the digestive tract. When doing a digital subtraction angiogram, it becomes quite important to hold your breath, it’s all about the success of the imaging. Similarly, it is important not to breathe during CT and MRI scans after intravenous injection of contrast, especially for CT or MRI angiography, which can produce step artifacts once breathing, affecting the reliability of the diagnosis. When doing barium meal examination of the digestive tract, the doctor asked you to rotate the position not too fierce, you flash, move too fast, so that the doctor did not see anything. Especially when the doctor asks you to swallow a mouthful of barium in your mouth, you can only swallow it when he asks you to swallow it down, and in the process of swallowing, don’t move your body, so as not to prevent the doctor from capturing the process of barium operation, especially the first mouth of barium is crucial to the diagnosis. Similarly, there is also the examination of heart three-bit film, must cooperate with the doctor, and strive for a one-time success. Selecting a hospital for examination Hospitals come in all sizes and have their own specialties and strengths. Therefore, when you plan to go to a hospital, you can find out through your friends and relatives which hospitals in your area will have better results in the treatment of your disease, and at the same time, you need to inquire whether conservative treatment is better or surgical treatment is better, as well as minimally invasive interventional therapy, or radiation therapy, etc. Once you have determined the treatment method to be used, you will be able to find the best one. Once you have decided on the treatment and even which hospital to go to, then you can go to that hospital to have the relevant medical imaging tests done. This is because the hospital doctors have their own experience, he will be based on their own professional habits that which test can be done, which test can not be done; at the same time, because he did so long time in their own hospitals, but also has long been adapted to their own hospitals imaging department of the examination method, coupled with accustomed to see their own film, in line with their own diagnostic and therapeutic ideas, and even migrate to Mo chemical on their own unit of imaging information produced with a high degree of trust. The information has a high degree of trust. In view of this, there is absolutely no need for you to go to other hospitals for examination. Otherwise, you will have to go back to the hospital and have to undergo a new medical imaging test. Similarly, after you have been discharged from the hospital, perhaps your doctor will ask you to have a review of your imaging at intervals, and I would recommend that you also go to the same medical imaging department for a review. This is because, again, there are methodological or customary issues, and the results are more comparable between the two examinations at the same hospital. Otherwise, if you go to another hospital for examination, the photos are not comparable, which will bring trouble to the design of the next diagnosis and treatment program. Grasp the timing of the examination As we all know, any disease has a process of occurrence and development, for example, you have a recent cough, and sputum with blood, a chest X-ray, found that the mass, the doctor considered the possibility of lung cancer, immediately after the CT for further examination. At this time, you and your family will have to seriously consider the previous questions, but also discuss which treatment will be more effective, which involves the signing of the pledge by your family. If you hesitate and make up your mind to have the surgery after half a month, the result will definitely lead to the need for another CT examination before the surgery to ensure that the surgery is free from any major obstacles. When the surgery is over, a medical imaging test will also be done for comparison and to determine what the outcome of the treatment is. After being discharged from the hospital, a review is performed as prescribed by the doctor, and in the early stages, the intervals may be shorter, e.g., three months, six months. Of course, this depends on the degree of malignancy of the lesion, with the prolongation of the patient’s survival time, coupled with the patient does not have any clinical symptoms, then, it will be changed to once a year. CT review is available for patients whose conditions allow it, and digital chest radiography can be used as an alternative for those who are not in a good financial situation. In addition, sometimes female patients have to consider avoiding menstruation. Selective examination according to the condition There are many types of medical imaging tests, which have their own characteristics and advantages, as well as complementary and permeable to each other, so as far as possible to avoid the shortcomings of the strengths and use for you. In addition to listening to the doctor’s words, but also listen to the doctor’s voice, and even, you can also from multiple perspectives side by side, if necessary, you can specifically consult with the medical imaging experts, your disease need to do which test is more appropriate. X-rays are usually sufficient for the bones of the limbs. For cranial trauma, a CT scan of the head is preferred. Chest CT may be ordered for nodular lesions in the chest or for diffuse disease. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be performed for the differential diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma, hemangioma, and abscess. In patients with abdominal trauma, abdominal ultrasound of the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, and kidneys is done in most cases, as well as for ectopic pregnancy. MRI may be considered for the spinal cord, intervertebral discs, meniscus of the knee, and soft tissues. However, when calcifications are involved, a CT is preferred. If the possibility of systemic tumor metastasis is being considered, a nuclear medicine examination may be considered appropriate, and the same is true for myocardial ischemia, looking at its perfusion. Combination of gold standard examination and screening examination Any examination has a problem of reliability, which is usually called the “gold standard”, for example, digital subtraction angiography is a gold standard for the examination of blood vessels, but its cost is high, especially with a certain degree of trauma, and even sometimes can bring certain risks. If you intend to do this test, it is best to plan to do the treatment at the same time, for example: perform interventional embolization, interventional dilatation, interventional chemotherapy, etc.. In this case, CT angiography, magnetic resonance angiography, or even their simulated endoscopies are no longer of practical significance. On the contrary, these non-invasive tests may be considered if they are used as a screening test or if the patient can no longer afford to take the risks mentioned above because of his/her advanced age, criticality, urgency, or severity of illness. Keep the imaging data All of the above medical imaging tests, especially the photos you need to keep for future review and comparison purposes. It may even be possible to reduce the number of unnecessary tests, or to alternate between high and low grade imaging tests at regular intervals. Of course, perhaps with it, the need for relevant imaging tests can be eliminated altogether. Therefore, you have to arrange the exams in chronological order from back to front, put the same scan and enhancement together, and put all medical imaging information in categories, such as: radiographs, CT, MRI, ultrasound, and nuclear medicine. Based on this important information, you can determine whether you can undergo Phase II treatment or whether a different treatment is more appropriate.