scan

1. To survey by traversing with an active or passive sensing device. 2. The image, record, or data obtained by scanning, usually identified by the technology or device employed; e.g., CT s., radionuclide s., ultrasound s., etc. 3. Abbreviated form of scintiscan, usually identified by the organ or structure examined; e.g., brain s., bone s., etc.

- CT s. See tomography.

- duplex Doppler s. a method of visualizing and selectively assessing the flow patterns of peripheral arteries and veins using ultrasound imaging and pulsed Doppler.

- EMI s. historically, the name commonly used for computed tomography of the head, the technique devised by Hounsfield, who was a scientist at EMI, an English electronics firm.

- Meckel s. use of ^99mtechnetium pertechnetate in a s. of the small bowel to detect ectopic gastric mucosa in Meckel diverticulum; the pertechnetate anion is secreted by epithelial cells in the gastric mucosa.

- multiple-gated acquisition s. (MUGA) a nuclear medicine cardiac blood pool study collected by multiple-gated acquisition; used for ejection fraction and wall motion assessment. SEE ALSO: radionuclide ejection fraction.

- renal cortical s. an imaging technique wherein a renal cortex–localizing radiopharmaceutical ( e.g., ^99mTc-DMSA, ^99mTc-glucohepatanate) is injected to image the renal cortex to find scarring or pyelonephritis.

- sector s. in ultrasonography, a system in which the transducer or transmitted ultrasound beam is rotated through an angle, resulting in a pie-shaped image.

- ventilation-perfusion s. a lung function test, especially useful for pulmonary embolism, employing an inhaled radionuclide for ventilation and an intravenous radionuclide for perfusion; their respective distributions in the lung are recorded scintigraphically.

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Schedules for Clinical Assessment of Neuropsychiatry; suspected child abuse and neglect; systolic coronary artery narrowing

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scan 'skan vb, scanned; scan·ning vt

1 a) to examine esp. systematically with a sensing device (as a photometer or a beam of radiation)

b) to pass an electron beam over and convert (an image) into variations of electrical properties (as voltage) that convey information electronically

2) to make a scan of (as the human body) in order to detect the presence or localization of radioactive material vi to make a scan of the body or of an organ or part

scan n

1) the act or process of scanning

2 a) a depiction (as a photograph) of the distribution of a radioactive material in something (as a bodily organ)

b) an image of a bodily part produced (as by computer) by combining ultrasonographic or radiographic data obtained from several angles or sections

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1. n. examination of the body or a part of the body using ultrasonography, computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or scintigraphy (see scintigram).

2. n. the image obtained from such an examination.

3. vb. to examine the body using any of these techniques.

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(skan) 1. to examine or map the body, or one or more organs or regions of it, by gathering information with a sensing device. 2. the data or image so obtained, often designated according to the organ under examination, as brain scan, kidney scan, thyroid scan, etc. 3. shortened form of scintiscan.