About Movie

The sterile overhead lights steadily eroded my ability to keep from squinting. A heated blanket covered my legs and chest, but the frigid air in the emergency room chilled me to the bone. "Now when they introduce the dye into your system," the doctor explained, "you will experience a sensation like being lowered into a warm bath."

This would be the second CAT scan that morning; the first one had searched for tumors in my brain, while this one would try to find blood clots in my lungs. The machine is a thick box with a tunnel through it. The acronym stands for Computerized Axial Tomography and the procedure is also known as a CT scan. The term axial-or axis of rotation-provides a useful clue to the purpose of this machine. Inside the short tunnel the walls are smooth, interrupted only by a single ring of cameras that spins when the machine is active. This allows the CT scanner to capture a three dimensional x-ray image. The term tomography means: "imaging by sections or sectioning".

In front of the opening to the CT scanner is an examination table that sits on a stand enclosed by accordion style baffles. When I was wheeled into the room, for my first scan, I felt as if I had arrived on the set of a science fiction movie. The white machine dominated the lab and thick black cables ran across the floor.

"During the procedure we will clear the room and observe you from the control station over there," the technician pointed to a wide glass window, "the table will rise to the level of the opening and then slide into the tunnel. Don't look into the lasers as you pass under them, we use those for positioning. When the camera ring begins to spin, it will capture sectional images that are reconstructed by the computer in the control booth. The table adjusts as necessary until we have a complete 3-D image of your brain."

It is hard not to feel like you are in the belly of a living mechanical creature. Motors buzz and hum in high pitched tones as the table slides deeper into the tunnel and when it stops the camera ring whirrs into action. The procedure is painless and non-invasive, lying on my back I could observe what was going on, and after a short few minutes it ended. Unlike a conventional x-ray photograph, a CT scan takes accurate images of bones, soft tissues, and blood vessels all at the same time.

For the chest scan I was injected with a red iodine based dye, known as contrast material. This allowed for better visualization of my blood vessels and lungs, and could assist the radiologist in making his diagnosis.

"Everything checked out alright," my ER doctor announced with the results in hand. My body relaxed as I shook his hand. Inside I felt glad to know what to expect if I ever needed to have another CAT scan.