What Medical Imaging Is

Medical imaging allows doctors to examine internal body structures without directly viewing them through surgery. Different imaging techniques use different physical principles. Uses X-rays, which are electromagnetic waves with high photon energies. Different tissues absorb X-rays by different amounts.

Uses high-frequency sound waves. Reflections from boundaries between tissues are detected and processed to form an image.

Uses many X-ray measurements taken from different directions. A computer processes these measurements to create cross-sectional images. Medical imaging is an important application of **waves, electromagnetic radiation, electronics and computer processing**.

A general imaging idea is: **Physical signal → interaction with tissue → detector → processing → image**