![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Bekka H. on February 21, 2002, at 11:42:31
Has anyone here had brain scans? If so, where did you go for them?
Posted by tammy on February 21, 2002, at 14:49:53
In reply to Brain scans: PET and fMRI, posted by Bekka H. on February 21, 2002, at 11:42:31
i had a brain mri twice, with contrast (dye)
i went to the area hospital......
tammy
Posted by OldSchool on February 21, 2002, at 18:19:53
In reply to Brain scans: PET and fMRI, posted by Bekka H. on February 21, 2002, at 11:42:31
> Has anyone here had brain scans? If so, where did you go for them?
I assume you are asking about functional neuroimaging? The kinds of brain scans done to help diagnose mental illness is a totally different kind of scan than you get at your local hospital. Functional neuroimaging that uses SPECT/PET or functional MRI is still classed as an experimental diagnostic tool in Neuropsychiatry. Its being done mostly at University teaching hospitals in Neuropsychiaty research settings. Your local "Joe" psychiatrist at the clinical level doesnt have the technical expertise or training to do the functional neuroimaging.
The Amen clinic out in California does SPECT scans to diagnose mental illness. There is also a functional neuroimaging lab at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. Youd have to enroll in a study to get a scan at MUSC though. The Amen clinic you just pay the fee to get the scan. I heard its like $2000 to get a scan at the Amen clinic.
Old School
Posted by tammy on February 21, 2002, at 22:43:19
In reply to Re: Brain scans: PET and fMRI, posted by OldSchool on February 21, 2002, at 18:19:53
old school
i was on a different wave length..... lol :)sorry
i didnt know they had a scan for such.....
thanks for the clarity....
Tammy:)
Posted by noa on February 24, 2002, at 15:40:11
In reply to Re: Brain scans: PET and fMRI oldschool, posted by tammy on February 21, 2002, at 22:43:19
Of course, I would love to get a functional scan and find out what is going on inside this brain-o-mine, but I'm afraid that the research is still so new as to be not very useful on the clinical level. I don't think there have been enough scans (accessibility and cost limits the numbers) to develop norms yet, so right now, I think the scans are as yet only useful to researchers in that one can make reasonable comparisons of groups (and the groups they study are still small, I think, so you have to add that to the mix of the power of the research as of yet), but not to be able to scan an individual and be able to say if the individual's functional scan is significantly different from the norm.
So I'll wait. Maybe later in my lifetime the technology will get to that point. Hopefully, the pharmocological technology will be able to make use of future imaging knowledge, too, so that meds will be less dirty, more targeted.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.