LDOC

We just finished up our Imaging Physics section, which turned out to not be as bad as I had thought it would be. It was a lot about what goes on to produce the x-rays, and how they form the image on the image receptor (IR). And technical factors that the RTs can control to control the image quality. Useful stuff. Not the nasty irrelevant physics in the intro classes. That exam was today and I think I did okay on it. We learned the differences between screen-film and digital imaging, and the two types of digital imaging - computed and...digital. With computed, only the processing of the image is different. The RT still has to put a cassette in the Bucky and then take it to a processor or reader, but it either has film or a photostimulable phosphor plate. With digital radiography (DR), the image data gets transmitted directly from the IR that's under the table to the RT workstation. It removes the step of going back into the room to get it from the table. And there's all sorts of technical things that go into how each of those 3 processes work. In lab last Thursday we played with screen-film imaging, which does not allow any post-processing by the RT to correct for brightness or contrast. What you put on the film is what you get developed. We played around with the technical factors to figure out for different anatomical structures what factors needed to be changed by how much. We got to take home an image, too, if we wanted to. It's on my parent's refrigerator :)

We also finished up our thoracic section in anatomy yesterday. We said goodbye to our cadavers, which the boys named Boris and Grandma Death. Most of the thorax is vessels and I don't like those. But they're kind of important. We had review for all 3 sections today during class. I'm nervous about studying for both of my exams, because there is so much information and so little time to look at it all! But I'm not really nervous for actually taking them, yet. I'm sure that it will come together by the time I sit to take it. But there's just so much to study!!

I finished medical terminology last week. I feel so much more intelligent about medical jargon now! In my classes, now, when the professor or the book says something that I wouldn't have understood, now I can tell you what it means. It's quite cool. Watch out for big words that are now part of my vocabulary!

We got our duke IDs on Friday. It's going to be fun (not really) to try to find my way there and around the hospital when I'm there on rotations. But it has to be done. Speaking of clinicals, I attempted to load the files for the clinical software our director wants us to use, and I was able to install it to my Blackberry, but I can't load images or get my tech to sign it, so I don't think the Storm is going to work. I am going to take it to him, though, before I completely rule it out. I do think that I'll end up using my iTouch, though, which is just fine with me! Especially since we just bought it. I would probably use it anyway, because I don't want my Storm to be all messed up on me.