What does fact checked mean?
At Healthfully, we strive to deliver objective content that is accurate and up-to-date. Our team periodically reviews articles in order to ensure content quality. The sources cited below consist of evidence from peer-reviewed journals, prominent medical organizations, academic associations, and government data.
The information contained on this site is for informational purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for the advice of a professional health care provider. Please check with the appropriate physician regarding health questions and concerns. Although we strive to deliver accurate and up-to-date information, no guarantee to that effect is made.
What Is the Difference Between a Cat Scan & a Bone Scan?
A doctor might order a type of scan to help diagnose an internal problem. As described by the American College of Radiology and the Radiologic Society of North America, Computerized Axial Tomography, also known as a CAT or CT scan, combines X-rays and computer analysis to generate detailed images of the body. By contrast, a bone scan produces images of a radiotracer administered into the body via a specialized camera 2.
How They Work
A CAT scan takes multiple, focused X-ray images of the body and sends them to a computer, which assembles them into multiple, cross-sectional images–apparent "slices" of the body.
A bone scan camera detects a small amount of radioactive material injected into the body that collects in abnormal areas of bone 2.
How Scans Are Performed
Bone Eating Diseases
Learn More
For a CAT scan, the patient lies on a platform that slowly moves through a large, often doughnut-like, X-ray machine. Intravenous and/or oral contrast may be administered prior to the exam.
For a bone scan, the patient is injected with a radio tracer and then approximately two hours later lies on a table under a specialized camera for up to an hour 2.
How Scans Are Used
Doctors use CAT scans to diagnose a wide variety of diseases in all parts of the body. Bone scans, however, are limited to diagnosing diseases specific to the skeletal system, such as:
- infection
- fractures
- tumors
- metastases
Radiation
Side Effects of a Bone Scan
Learn More
CAT scans subject the patient to more radiation than bone scans. A single CAT scan generally equals a similar amount of background radiation exposure that humans normally acquire over three to five years. Radiation exposure from a bone scan is negligible 2.
Interpretation
Both CAT and bone scans are interpreted by doctors specialty trained as radiologists.
Related Articles
- moodboard/moodboard/Getty Images