What Is a Total Body Scan?

A total body scan is also commonly referred to as a CT body scan, or simply as a CAT scan. A total body scan can be used to detect health issues that are potentially very dangerous, but still in a stage where they can be successfully treated. A total body scan is sometimes used in conjunction with an X-ray or a MRI to give a physician important information needed in the treatment of a patient.

Function

• A full body scan is used when a physician suspects a patient may have cancer of any kind, or there may be an abnormality in the lungs. The body scan can help identify the earliest stages of lung disease and various kinds of cancers, and help to direct a treatment that can help to rid the person of these conditions. A total body scan can also indicate weakness in blood vessels that could later result in internal bleeding.

Types

• The total body scan is becoming very popular throughout the United States. However physicians like Dr. Gabe Mikrin do not recommend that everyone get a total body scan, as they expose the patient to potentially unsafe levels of radiation for what could be no reason at all. Mirkin states that giving a total body scan is rapidly becoming one of the ways that some radiologists prefer to make a profit.

Identification

• The total body scan is described as a simple and stress-free procedure that offers no discomfort at all to the patient. The patient simply lies on a scanning table, and then the radiologist performs the total body scan using the body scanning equipment. Once the scan is complete, the radiologist will sit down with the patient and interpret the results of the procedure.

Features

• A full body CT scan is designed to present the human body in a series of cross sections that are laid out in a format that the radiologist and physician can use for their analysis. The primary areas that are examined using a full body scan are the heart, the abdomen, the lungs and the pelvis.

Theories/Speculation

• According to Dr. Gabe Mirkin, the cost to the patient of a total body scan used to top $1,000. But with the recent rise in popularity of the total body scan, there has been an increase in competition and that has caused prices to drop to around $500 for the procedure. In many cases, insurance companies will not pay for a total body scan so the patient is forced to pay for the procedure out of pocket. This lack of interference from the insurance companies adds to the appeal of total body scans to radiologists looking to make a profit.