SPECT Scans for Brain Injury Treatment

Closed head injury and SPECT scan testing

A victim of a closed head injury or a traumatic brain injury is not only treated by a host of physicians belonging to various specialties, but the victim also has to undergo a series of tests to help with the diagnosis and treatment. One such compulsory testing is the SPECT scan test (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, a kind of nuclear imaging test displaying the pattern of blood flow to the various tissues and organs of the brain).

Depending on the severity of the consequences, such accident compensations can run into thousands.

Essentially, the SPECT scan test involves the deployment of two technologies – the computed tomography (CT) and the use of a radioactive material called the tracer. It is the tracer which helps the physician to track the blood flow to tissues and organs.

How is this test done? It starts with an injection of a chemical to the victim of a closed brain injury. This special chemical disperses gamma rays which the scanner can easily detect. In a way this test is not the same as a PET scan where the chemical is absorbed by the blood and the tissues. In the SPECT scan, the chemical remains in the blood stream helping to track the blood flow within the body. This type of scan is also less expensive and more easily available than even the high resolution PET scan.

A computer interprets the information gathered from the gamma arrays into the 2-dimensional images, which subsequently takes the form of 3-D images of the brain.

Considered to be more appropriate and sensitive than MRI or CT scans, the SPECT scan enables in the detection of speed of blood flow through arteries and veins within the injured brain. This type of scan is also frequently done for any evaluation study of medically uncontrolled seizures that demand surgical intervention. In such situations the SPECT scan provides the flexibility of scanning the brain in between (interictal) as well as during a seizure (ictal). This helps to identify the blood flow to areas of the brain from where the seizures begin.

Related posts:

1. Role Of The Psychiatrist In Brain Injury Treatment
2. The Role Of The Neurologist in Brain Injury Treatment
3. The Role Of The Neuropsychologist in Brain Injury Treatment
4. Brain Injuries & Motorcycle Accidents
5. Severe Brain Injury

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BUCKFIRE & BUCKFIRE, P.C. is a Michigan personal injury law firm and is not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time of the posting of the article. The information contained in this article is from online news sources and any perceived misstatements should be attributed to those sources as we did not complete any investigation of the accident. If you believe that the information is inaccurate and would like it changed or would like this post completely removed from the site, please let us know and we will do our best to promptly accommodate your request. We are very sensitive to these requests.

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