Understand your scan
What each scan shows, how a radiologist reads it, and what every word on the report means — in plain language, from published references, with the limits stated. Informational only, never a diagnosis.
Written from published radiology references and reviewed for plain language. Not written or signed by a physician, and not a diagnosis. How we write these pages →
Report glossary, A–ZEvery word that shows up on an MRI, CT, X-ray or ultrasound report, explained in plain language.In depth
Longer reads: how a radiologist actually works through a scan, what normal looks like, and the questions the modality guides below deliberately leave to a separate page.
- How to read a radiology reportA radiology report has five parts and only one is the answer. What each section means, which sentence to read first, and what the hedging words are doing.
- MRI vs CT scan: what each one showsMRI and CT answer different questions. What each physically detects, which tissues it sees well, how long it takes, and why your doctor chose one.
- How to read a brain CT scanWhat a radiologist checks on a head CT and in what order: windows, symmetry, grey-white contrast, ventricles, cisterns — and what an early scan misses.
- How to read a chest CT scanLung window, mediastinal window, and the order a radiologist searches a chest CT — what normal lung looks like, and what a nodule or effusion changes.
- How to read a brain MRIA brain MRI is several scans of the same head. What T1, T2, FLAIR, DWI and post-contrast each reveal, and how a radiologist compares them.
- How to read a knee MRIThe three planes, the fluid-sensitive sequences, and the checklist a radiologist works through: meniscus, ligaments, cartilage, bone marrow.
- How to read a lumbar spine MRILevels, discs and nerve roots: what bulge, protrusion, extrusion, stenosis and foraminal narrowing actually describe — and what a lumbar MRI does not cover.
- MRI sequences explainedWhy one MRI produces many different image sets, what each sequence is sensitive to, and how to tell fat from fluid from blood by comparing them.
- Contrast on a CT or MRI, explainedWhat contrast dye does, why iodine is used for CT and gadolinium for MRI, why some scans are done both with and without, and what the safety checks are for.
- How long do scan results take?The images are ready in minutes; the report is not. Why routine scans wait, what urgent changes, and why the portal shows it before your doctor calls.
MRI
What a brain MRI shows, and what the report meansA brain MRI shows brain tissue, fluid spaces and vessels in fine detail, without radiation. What the common findings and terms on the report mean.
What a lumbar spine MRI shows, and what the report meansA lumbar MRI shows the discs, spinal canal, nerve roots and facet joints, level by level. What bulge, stenosis and degenerative change mean.
What a cervical spine MRI shows, and what the report meansA cervical MRI shows the neck vertebrae, the discs, the spinal cord and the nerve roots. What the common findings on a neck MRI report mean.
What a knee MRI shows, and what the report meansA knee MRI shows the menisci, ligaments, cartilage, bone marrow and joint fluid. What a tear, an effusion and bone oedema mean on the report.
What a shoulder MRI shows, and what the report meansA shoulder MRI shows the rotator cuff, labrum, capsule, cartilage and bone marrow. What a tear, tendinopathy and impingement mean on the report.
CT
What a chest CT shows, and what the report meansA chest CT shows the lungs, airways, lymph nodes and blood vessels in cross-section. What each common finding on the report means, in plain words.
What an abdominal CT shows, and what the report meansAn abdominal CT shows the liver, kidneys, pancreas, spleen, bowel and vessels in cross-section. What the common findings on the report mean.
What a brain CT shows, and what the report meansA head CT shows bleeding, the fluid spaces, the skull and gross brain structure in a minute. What it detects, what it misses, and what it means.
X-ray
Ultrasound
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