Lumbar spine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Lumbar spine - Essay Example 4). Despite its ability to hold weight and absorb shocks, the lumbar spine is vulnerable and can easily be damaged in a number of ways. Therefore, it has become necessary to find an adequate means of measuring a patient’s pain. X-ray imaging is based in part on high energy photons passing through a phosphor screen and then scattering around the object being x-rayed, thus producing an image. The other part is a matter of studying the data collected from the original screening (Iniewski, 2009, p. 3). Most x-rays are made up of geometric magnification, which is created by crystals which are responsible for diffracting the image (Chang, 2004, p. 31) Before x-rays were available, the only way for a doctor to measure what it is they are looking at is by asking the patient and making judgments by the pain that they report (Herkowitz & Bell, 2004, p. 3). X-rays are not only necessary when it comes to diagnosing what the injury is, but they must also be performed again before surgery, to make certain that nothing has changed since the last time (Herkowitz & Bell, 2004, p. 459). The image quality of an x-ray plays a large role in how the image will turn out. The goal is to obtain optimal image, which provides the doctor and patient with an adequate view of all features related to the x-ray (McQuillen-Martensen, 2006, p. 1). Some key factors which play a role in image quality are: anatomical positioning, kVp and mA, density and contrast, SID, sharpness as well as focal point and geometry. It is important that the patient be properly set out on the observation table before hand. The patient should be lying face up on the table. The shoulders and â€Å"anterior superior iliac spines (ASISs) at equal distance from the imaging table prevent rotation† (McQuillen-Martensen, 2006, p. 414). The x-ray machine can only focus on the certain views. One such view is anterior to posterior