Laboratory (Practical) Examination

Imaging

These pages do not give questions in the exam format. The X Ray images are discussed individually. Essential points are mentioned and discussed.

Since image pages may take longer to download, each page has a small number of images. Do not be put off by the number of pages here!

Links to X ray image pages

#1

This image of the abdomen has been taken for viewing bony tissues. It is easy to locate the ribs and the pelvis to get an orientation.

What is '1'? Which vertebra is indicated by the label '2'?
What part of a vertebra is shown by '3'? What is '4' (and many similar 'bubble-like' appearances in this image)?

Click Here for answers.

#2. Abdomen, soft tissues.

This X ray image was taken with a different exposure to highlight some soft tissues (the technicalities do not concern us in 910.201!)

Notice the faint outline of the kidney, shown by the dotted line.
Can you identify the 'bar' shadow labelled '1'? Hint : see the three lines on the opposite side of the same image. It is the psoas major muscle. This appearance is known as the "psoas shadow".
Note the darker line between the sacrum and the ilium (Labelled '2', indicated by the black arrowhead)? Remember that cartilage, though skeletal tissue, has no calcium and like any other 'soft' tissue in X-ray terms. This line is the sacroiliac joint.
Compare the unlabelled image on the right.

In image #1, '1' is the 12th rib, '2' is the third lumbar vertebra (simply count downwards from T12, to which the 12th rib is attached!) '3' is a spinous process (remember, the question asked for the part of a vertebra, not of a specific vertebra). '4' (and many similar 'shadows') is a gas bubble in the colon! A similar gas bubble with a horizontal lower margin may be seen in the fundus of the stomach if the X-ray is taken with the patient standing.

Go Back to Image #1

Links to X ray image pages