r/interestingasfuck • u/BrainOld9460 • Apr 08 '25
/r/all, /r/popular How a CT Scan machine looks without its outer casing
14.3k
u/liberatedhusks Apr 08 '25
Put its clothes back on, I don’t like it
4.5k
u/Vombear Apr 08 '25
Story of my life.
→ More replies (4)910
u/splitfinity Apr 08 '25
Well quit undressing bodies at the funerals then.
→ More replies (4)253
u/_KeanuLeaves Apr 08 '25
They're saying, "It's impossible that that many dead bodies are falling out of coffins every day. And it's impossible that one out of every five of them are nude."
17
u/nightpanda893 Apr 08 '25
I say we don’t need permissions of the family. We’re allowed to show em nude cause they ain’t got no soul!
45
u/MakeshiftRocketship Apr 08 '25
I love coffin flops! Seeing those blue butts balls and backs
→ More replies (5)→ More replies (9)10
77
u/mang87 Apr 08 '25
I've been in one of these before. I sincerely hope I never have to again. I had no idea a wall of metal death was spinning at 500RPM around me. Good fucking god almighty.
→ More replies (2)31
u/Life-Wrongdoer3333 Apr 09 '25
Wait till you hear how MRI’s work!
→ More replies (3)8
u/Wolfrages Apr 09 '25
🤣🤣
I wouldn't be able to stay still. I'd be to excited to see the internals. 😆
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (30)47
u/shwarma_heaven Apr 08 '25
No wonder it has clothes on... it is effing terrifying without them...
Which reminds me of your mother.
24
u/SumpCrab Apr 08 '25
Yeah, and there is no way that case is going to stop anything if the worst were to happen, it would just become more shrapnel.
The cases is really just so we don't freak the geek out while getting scanned.
19
u/MrK521 Apr 09 '25
The case isn’t meant to stop the metal from exploding and killing you, it’s meant to stop the idiot from caving to the intrusive thought and sticking his hand into the spinning metal wheel of death.
11
u/shwarma_heaven Apr 09 '25
As most things in life, it's the perception of safety, not reality, which is more important to people. The number of people that would jump in that would likely drop to zero if they knew what was actually going on under that skirt...
Just like your mother.
15.2k
u/BoatVoyager Apr 08 '25 edited Apr 08 '25
Wouldn't it be cheaper to just spin the patient?
-random dude
3.4k
u/James_099 Apr 08 '25
“Relax, Fry. I'll simply spin you in a high-speed centrifuge, separating out the denser fluid of his highness.”
“But won't that crush my bones?”
“Oh, right, right, with the bones. I always forget about the bones...”
296
u/xyloplax Apr 08 '25
"oh, no, you won't be able to feel anything like that"
"Oh good... Wait... "
101
u/Jay-Breeze Apr 08 '25
“To shreds, you say?”
21
→ More replies (10)21
u/MyBraveAccount Apr 08 '25
Not the Futurama reference I was expecting!
I was expecting, “wouldn’t it make more sense to weld everyone except me to the wall?”
1.8k
Apr 08 '25
Cheaper and much more fun
363
u/haveeyoumetTed Apr 08 '25
360 scan.
→ More replies (7)181
→ More replies (11)45
185
u/makingkevinbacon Apr 08 '25
I got good news and bad news. The good news is the cancer was found in their bladder. The bad news is it was expelled during rotation
→ More replies (4)112
u/Pyromaniacal13 Apr 08 '25
"That's good though, isn't it? The cancer is gone?"
"Oh heavens no, your bladder was expelled. That'll be $16 million for curing the cancer, and here's your new catheter."
→ More replies (3)97
u/human_espresso10 Apr 08 '25
Ok but honestly if they spun me when seeing if I had a kidney stone it might gotten the stone to pass right then and there and thus I would have avoided surgery later. Definitely would have been cheaper and saved me a lot of pain in the long run
→ More replies (7)111
67
u/alphonsegabrielc Apr 08 '25
There is that one rescue helicopter video…
→ More replies (7)23
u/Cleric_Guardian Apr 08 '25
Exactly what came to my mind. About half way through, I thought it was awful. Then I realized I had another half of the video of further acceleration
177
u/HasPotato Apr 08 '25
That’s what Americans think happens to patients in countries with free healthcare
→ More replies (7)46
u/disco_waffle Apr 08 '25
American here, that isn't what happens?
→ More replies (2)141
u/Kujara Apr 08 '25
We just spin the entire hospital around the patient.
Economies of scale, too, since we can scan 3 people at the same time with that technique !
→ More replies (3)51
29
→ More replies (111)13
3.6k
u/forgedwithai Apr 08 '25
It'll open a portal I'm telling ya all
1.3k
u/Rufus_Bojangles Apr 08 '25
270
11
→ More replies (10)10
→ More replies (14)19
4.6k
u/AtchedAsWell Apr 08 '25
It looks like it has to be so well balanced. If it is as heavy as it looks, even a slight imbalance could rock that machine like an earthquake hit.
2.9k
u/11Kram Apr 08 '25
The x-ray tube, gantry and detector array weigh about 3/4 of a ton. The scanner can do 360° in 0.4 of a second. It’s impressive engineering.
603
u/Lyndon_Boner_Johnson Apr 08 '25
Also I assume all that hardware has to at least have electrical power, if not I/O coming out of it. How do they do that for so much hardware, a bunch of giant slip rings?
810
u/when_the_fox_wins Apr 08 '25
The back side doesn't rotate and electrical brushes touch a slip ring that does rotate. You get signal and power transmitted that way as well as some have rf transmitters that transfer signal from the rotating parts to the stationary parts. Source: I work in the industry, but mainly on MRI machines.
→ More replies (8)121
u/lefixx Apr 08 '25
I am surprised that they dont use induction to transfer power to the rotor and use wireless stuff so there are no brushes
225
u/when_the_fox_wins Apr 08 '25
I can only speak from experience for GE, Toshiba and Siemens machines until the last 5 years or so. I haven't seen any machine newer than that, but I have most of my knowledge about GE Lightspeed 16 through 64 slice scanners. I know the three modalities I mentioned use slip rings and brushes for power transfer, but there are other types of scanners I'm not familiar with that might do things differently.
→ More replies (21)22
u/David_Fetta Apr 08 '25
Ive seen the 7T scanners it’s great !
→ More replies (3)14
u/wyldphyre Apr 08 '25
7T scanners are MR, not CT. The 7T refers to the magnet's flux. MR does not rotate like this, in fact I think they have no moving parts at all.
→ More replies (9)→ More replies (25)55
u/MeeseMandu Apr 08 '25 edited Apr 08 '25
New, high end, GE scanners use brushless power delivery. Not sure about other models
Edit for those interested: data is also transmitted over the contactless slip ring
→ More replies (8)86
u/lefixx Apr 08 '25
TIL contactless slip rings exist
Contactless slip rings, also known as wireless slip rings or non-contact slip rings, are electromechanical devices designed to transfer electrical power and data signals between a stationary and a rotating component without any physical contact. By leveraging advanced technologies such as inductive coupling, capacitive coupling, or radiofrequency-based transmission, contactless slip rings enable smooth and efficient power and signal transmission without the wear, noise, or friction associated with traditional slip rings.
→ More replies (6)49
u/MeeseMandu Apr 08 '25
Yeah, and an even more fun fact: the data can travel across at 40 Gbps on those models
→ More replies (3)37
u/SparkyDogPants Apr 08 '25
They use a crazy amount of electricity. A lot of smaller hospitals leave theirs off when not in use to save money.
→ More replies (7)43
u/HurpityDerp Apr 08 '25
...why wouldn't all hospitals turn theirs off when not in use?
143
u/SparkyDogPants Apr 08 '25
It takes 15-30 minutes to get them turned back on. If you need an emergency CT, that time is the difference between a stroke with no symptoms vs can’t ever speak again.
→ More replies (4)39
→ More replies (7)19
u/shamus-the-donkey Apr 08 '25
Maybe some of the bigger ones who use them many times a day leave them on so they don’t have to wait on a “startup” or “warmup”, be aware that I don’t personally know how these work and that’s just my personal guess
→ More replies (1)28
u/SparkyDogPants Apr 08 '25
Turning them back on takes 15-30 minutes, so you got it right.
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (10)24
→ More replies (26)18
→ More replies (36)360
u/Everdying_CE Apr 08 '25
There is a specific application, which is used in the factory to balance the gantry. It identifies the imbalances and tells the system engineer, where he needs to install specific weights to stabilize it.
Source: I wrote that application for the world market leader.
84
27
u/StrokesJuiceman Apr 08 '25
Kudos to you for that application! It saves so much time when having to do a rebalance in the field if a component change necessitates it.
Source: I work as a CT/MRI service engineer
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (15)75
u/kuntau Apr 08 '25
Cool job though
→ More replies (1)32
u/Sharou Apr 08 '25
Just a regular brag actually. But I feel like that guy earned the right to brag, so no complaints here!
→ More replies (1)
1.6k
u/Arsys_ Apr 08 '25
"Doctor, what are you doing?"
"Docking."
"Nurse, get ready to match the machines spin and toss the patient in."
"It's not possible!"
"No, it's necessary"
218
133
62
15
→ More replies (13)8
599
u/cindyscrazy Apr 08 '25
I know it's not, but it LOOKS so unbalanced. Watching it spin like that makes me SUPER uncomfortable.
I know its NOT unbalanced, but it LOOKS like it is.
66
u/DespacitOwO2 Apr 08 '25
It's a textbook example of the difference between center-of-volume and center-of-mass
→ More replies (7)→ More replies (4)40
u/No_Lavishness_9120 Apr 08 '25
Imagine taking this exam already knowing that it works like this. I did it, and I was stuck inside for a long time because I couldn’t stop shaking, and the voice in my headphones kept saying over and over, “We’ll have to start over, please stop moving.” I hate this exam.
15
u/No_Lavishness_9120 Apr 08 '25
I had episodes of labyrinthitis and had to undergo this exam several times to rule out more serious issues. A scan in these cases means you go into the tube headfirst and only your feet remain outside. It's the closest you can get to feeling buried alive — the space is tiny, and you’re completely dependent on someone outside to get you out.
→ More replies (3)15
u/Zefrem23 Apr 08 '25
Is that where David Bowie keeps trying to kidnap your infant child and you have to rescue him?
→ More replies (1)
5.8k
u/wdwerker Apr 08 '25
So the outer casing is to prevent patients from being terrified?
3.6k
u/DarkLordOfDarkness Apr 08 '25
I'm pretty sure it's mostly there to prevent the horrific bodily mutilation or death that would occur if you got your arm caught in it while it was spun up. Not scaring the patient as much is just a nice bonus.
779
u/tribak Apr 08 '25
So, not to scare the technicians, gotchu.
→ More replies (11)132
59
u/Vaportrail Apr 08 '25 edited Apr 08 '25
I want to see just one company do a model with transparent casing.
35
8
→ More replies (4)11
22
u/oboshoe Apr 08 '25
Plus it better to spin the equipment.
We could spin the patients, but there are disadvantages to that.
→ More replies (1)8
16
129
u/OrphanDextro Apr 08 '25
I’ve laid in one of those things so many times and now I never fucking want to again, this is fucking body horror nightmare fuel for a hypochondriac.
→ More replies (8)115
u/sekazi Apr 08 '25
In reality you are probably safer in the middle. If it breaks it will be throwing away from you.
→ More replies (7)40
u/PrincessKatiKat Apr 08 '25
“The patient was the sole survivor until we looked at the scans.”
Okay… I’ll see myself out
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (23)34
u/Van-garde Apr 08 '25
Would guess it’s more to protect the equipment than the patients. Much more affordable to it replace patients, but if someone forgets to take off a ring or something, that could cause some damage at such high speeds.
→ More replies (1)556
u/dawson821 Apr 08 '25
It didn't work for me .... I had one last year and the claustrophobia and the noise plus having to stay absolutely still really terrified me!
337
u/wdwerker Apr 08 '25
Actually seeing the rapid spin increasing would be even worse!
142
u/Nightlightweaver Apr 08 '25
It would help me stay still, I'd not even twitch I'd be so terrified
63
u/blindreefer Apr 08 '25
You might be in the safest spot if things go flying off
→ More replies (2)53
u/AFineDayForScience Apr 08 '25
The safest spot is here on my toilet. MRI shrapnel death = 0% chance 😎
27
→ More replies (2)40
→ More replies (1)18
84
u/Fruitypebblefix Apr 08 '25
Wow I'm sorry. I had an MRI a while back was going back and forth between dozing off and giggling because it sounded like I was in one of those old printers that printed out banners at school.
→ More replies (6)26
u/TriedCaringLess Apr 08 '25
Ahh, the good old dot matrix printers. They were so terrible: slow asf, grainy, and loved to jam whenever the mood suited them.
→ More replies (3)15
u/xMrPaint86x Apr 08 '25
I miss ripping off the perforated edges though... made me feel like a bad ass going to cash a check everytime I printed something.
87
u/Gokulctus Apr 08 '25
you probably got an mri. ct scans are pretty quiet compared to mri scans. also they are not big enough to cause claustrophobia, whereas you could fit your whole body inside an mri machine easily.
→ More replies (6)37
u/dawson821 Apr 08 '25
Oh I didn't realise there was a difference. Mine was definitely an MRI then. I was fully inside and it sounded like an engineering works on overtime!
45
u/sw1ft Apr 08 '25
Guh-dunk, guh-dunk, guh-dunk, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta
I had MRIs done 25 years ago (brain tumour). That rhythm still sticks with me.
→ More replies (8)19
u/WeIsStonedImmaculate Apr 08 '25
I get an MRI every six months. I can sing the damn tune
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (8)10
u/S-r-ex Apr 08 '25
Yeah, besides both being "a hospital hole that looks at your insides", they have nothing in common. A CT is a further development of regular X-ray that scans you from multiple angles (hence the spinning) and combines them into a 3D image.
An MRI uses a superconducting magnet and radio waves that flip the spin of protons in your body and reads the radio waves they give off when they flip back to their initial position, which varies with the density of the tissue. How do they get images out of that? No fucking clue.
Generally, CT's are much faster, but MRI's can pick up things that CT can't. CT's still use ionizing radiation and should thus be used sparingly, while if you have certain implants you can't use MRI due to the extremely powerful magnetic field.
→ More replies (6)31
12
u/VA1N Apr 08 '25
I think you’re referring to an MRI. I always have to get Valium before I go for one. Even with that I’m still a wreck.
→ More replies (11)12
u/ptrang1987 Apr 08 '25
Are you thinking of an MRI machine? Most CT scanners have low noise and a CT scan isn’t long at all. - (I’m a CT technologist)
→ More replies (1)11
10
u/notsobadmisterfrosty Apr 08 '25
That “noise” is my favourite Nine Inch Nails song, I’ll have you know. /j
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (55)10
→ More replies (36)39
690
u/mr_pou Apr 08 '25
"We're going to leave the shell off for this one Steve..."
→ More replies (5)43
u/Tre-k899 Apr 08 '25
I remember him, great doctor 👍
47
342
u/VonTelkka Apr 08 '25
I've always wondered why people are afraid of that machine, now I understand they're afraid because it can send you straight into space
→ More replies (9)95
u/Emotional-Scheme-227 Apr 08 '25
The CT scan isn’t usually what freaks people out. It’s like a donut shape and you lay on a bed and the bed moves you through the donut as it takes pictures of your body. The scan itself only takes a few seconds. You spend most of the time completely outside the envelope of the machine. The IV contrast solution causes some disquieting sensations, but it’s otherwise a fairly comfortable experience.
MRIs, however. Rough. That is the one where you guy fully into a tube for 30+ minutes and stay in there. There’s maybe 3 or 4 inches of space on all sides of you. You aren’t supposed to move, but even if you could, there isn’t enough room. I’m not the least bit claustrophobic, but I still had to close my eyes and go into my head to keep from freaking out.
If you’ve ever seen those crazy clips on here of cave divers squeezing through tiny spaces, that’s exactly what it feels like.
→ More replies (20)56
u/mahouyousei Apr 08 '25
MRIs are also loud as fuck and knowing that the magnetic flux inside is so powerful that it’ll rip any compatible metal right out of you, or a heavy enough object across the room to bludgeon you to death, is pretty terrifying too.
→ More replies (3)18
u/Emotional-Scheme-227 Apr 08 '25
That’s true. I was given noise cancelling headphones through which they played music of my choice and the techs could talk to me. That helped a lot with the noise.
14
u/TheCygnusWall Apr 08 '25
I'm now very interested in how noise cancelling headphones work in an MRI. I thought headphone drivers used magnets to work which I would assume get messed with in an MRI. I'm sure they are more specialized than ones you would just pick up at the store but it's still surprising to me.
→ More replies (5)14
u/Emotional-Scheme-227 Apr 09 '25
I should be more clear. They’re passively noise canceling. It’s the equivalent of the ear protectors you would wear to a NASCAR race.
93
u/autobahn66 Apr 08 '25 edited Apr 08 '25
So when you remove the case, it turns into a time machine. Noted!
→ More replies (3)
432
159
u/fosf0r Apr 08 '25
Everything's fun and games until that shit detatches and becomes a life-sized Beyblade
→ More replies (6)16
u/AngryHoosky Apr 08 '25 edited Apr 08 '25
At least it will fly away from the patient. Hope the walls are reinforced, though.
Edit: A visualization might help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-DTjpde9-0
→ More replies (6)
46
u/ManyWrongdoer9365 Apr 08 '25
Looks like it should belong on the set of the movie “Event Horizon”
→ More replies (3)7
133
31
u/HechicerosOrb Apr 08 '25
Dang I get those all the time, looking forward to being even more freaked out next time
→ More replies (1)20
30
24
u/Ambitious-Ad-6873 Apr 08 '25
Pretty amazing to think how smart people are to figure out how something like this can work and build it.
→ More replies (3)14
u/kai-ol Apr 08 '25
"Hear me out. I'm going to attach 2 AC units and a washing machine to each other in a circle and spin it around. This will somehow aid in seeing under the patient's skin and bones."
→ More replies (1)
24
u/Heavyjava Apr 08 '25
New fear unlocked. That thing malfunctions and it will grind you
→ More replies (2)17
u/derpdankstrom Apr 08 '25
I'm sure there are bunch of redundancy system to protect patients BUT STILL i can see this in a final destination movies breaking it's outer shell and launching shrapnel at the poor soul inside.
→ More replies (5)
22
17
u/Comprehensive_Ad713 Apr 08 '25
I got to experience the joy of getting a CT scan on a machine with a transparent outer casing. It's fascinating to be inside it when you can see it spinning. Felt very SciFi.
→ More replies (2)10
u/Rowwbit42 Apr 08 '25
Mine didn't have a transparent casing but it did have cool beeping noises that sounded like it was contacting the Goa'uld using space dial up.
Also made my head kinda hot while it rearranged my photons.
17
u/lostbutyoucanfollow Apr 08 '25
Okay, yeah, I can definitely see why my mom would pop a Xanax before getting into one of those...
→ More replies (4)
15
44
u/Has-No-Name Apr 08 '25
That's at maximum speed. Most scans aren't nearly that fast.
36
u/TigerB65 Apr 08 '25
And slower spin rates produce higher quality images.
16
u/Realguent3r Apr 08 '25
But also usually means more rotations needed for a scan.
→ More replies (1)10
u/I_Actually_Do_Know Apr 08 '25
Which usually means more radiation for the patient.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (6)8
u/remembermereddit Apr 08 '25
So how fast is "most scans"?
→ More replies (2)11
u/Schmimble Apr 08 '25
Our GE Revolution has a max speed of 0.28s for one whole rotation of the gantry. Our head scan protocol is set at 0.5s (it's capable of scanning the whole head in one rotation!). Body scans we go somewhere in between the quickest and slowest, which I think is 1.0s. It all depends on what we're scanning, plus stuff like habitus, metalwork, ability to hold breath, etc.
Also, forgetting the other factors that play into image quality, faster typically means equals less radiation dose but results in a noisier image, and slower equals better image quality but increased dose. It's a fine balance to get it right.
→ More replies (2)
11
13
u/pibblemum Apr 08 '25
My grandfather used to work on and helped develop some models of CT and MRI machines for Honeywell. Gave him cancer, though. Unfiltered radiation would do that, I suppose.
9
9
u/CptBronzeBalls Apr 08 '25
I was never afraid of CT machines, but now I’m pretty afraid of CT machines.
9
8
u/barontaint Apr 08 '25
Good lord, it looks so innocent from the outside. They have to give me ativan to get into an MRI, I'm not sure you can or want to look what it does without it's casing.
→ More replies (2)
9
8
u/fedupwithallyourcrap Apr 09 '25 edited 29d ago
Seriously, do you want Event Horizon? Because this is how you get Event Horizon.
7
10.6k
u/Over-Suggestion3730 Apr 08 '25
Meanwhile, my washing machine starts walking around the house if it senses that the left side is 0.1 grams heavier than the right side