How Does Angiography Work?
Angiographic x-ray imaging has grown into its own classification of x-ray imaging over time. The basic principal is the same as a conventional x-ray: x-rays are generated by an x-ray tube and as they pass through the body part being imaged, they are attenuated (weakened) at different levels. These differences in x-ray attenuation are then measured by an Image Intensifier and the resulting image is picked up by a TV camera. In modern angiography systems, each frame of the analog TV signal is then con verted to a digital frame and stored by a computer in memory and/or on hard magnetic disk. These x-ray “movies” can be viewed in real time as the angiography is being performed, or they can be reviewed later using recall from digital memory. During angiography, physicians inject streams of contrast agents or dyes into the area of interest using catheters to create detailed images of the blood vessels in real time. During the angiographic procedure, physicians can guide a catheter into the a
