_Let's examine (nyuk, nyuk!) some of the other different types of tests that can be used to look inside the body without surgery. Imaging tests can be used in many ways, including to look for cirrhosis or cancer, to find out how far a disease has spread, and to help determine if treatment is working.
Imaging tests send forms of energy (x-rays, sound waves, radioactive particles, or magnetic fields) through the body. The changes in energy patterns made by body tissues create an image or picture. These pictures can show normal body structures and function as well as abnormal ones caused by diseases such as cirrhosis.
Imaging tests are different from endoscopic tests (like a colonoscopy or bronchoscopy), which put a flexible, lighted tube with a lens or a video camera inside the body. Endoscopic tests allow doctors to see inside parts of the body as if they were looking with the naked eye, more like real pictures. These are very different from the images the doctor gets from imaging tests.
Some of the types of imaging tests require the use of a highlighting agent that may be administered through an injection or through an IV.