Functional imaging
Medical imaging technique
title: "Functional imaging" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["medical-imaging"] description: "Medical imaging technique" topic_path: "general/medical-imaging" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_imaging" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Medical imaging technique ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox diagnostic"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Functional imaging |
| purpose | measuring changes in metabolism |
| DiseasesDB | |
| ICD10 | |
| MedlinePlus | |
| eMedicine | |
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| name = Functional imaging | image = | alt = | caption = | pronounce = | purpose = measuring changes in metabolism | test of = | based on = | synonyms = | reference_range = | calculator = | DiseasesDB = | ICD10 = | ICD9 = | ICDO = | MedlinePlus = | eMedicine = | MeshID = | OPS301 = | LOINC = Functional imaging (or physiological imaging) is a medical imaging technique of detecting or measuring changes in metabolism, blood flow, regional chemical composition, and absorption.
As opposed to structural imaging, functional imaging centers on revealing physiological activities within a certain tissue or organ by employing medical image modalities that very often use tracers or probes to reflect spatial distribution of them within the body. These tracers are often analogous to some chemical compounds, like glucose, within the body. To achieve this, isotopes are used because they have similar chemical and biological characteristics. By appropriate proportionality, the nuclear medicine physicians can determine the real intensity of certain substances within the body to evaluate the risk or danger of developing some diseases.
Modalities
- Positron emission tomography (PET)
- Fludeoxyglucose for Glucose metabolism
- O-15 as a flow tracer
- Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)
- Computed tomography (CT) perfusion imaging
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
- Functional photoacoustic microscopy (fPAM)
- Magnetic particle imaging (MPI)
- Optical imaging
- Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)
References
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::