Uroradiology involves imaging disorders of the urinary tract. Your doctor will request scans in order to diagnose medical problems arising in the kidneys, ureters (tubes from kidneys to bladder) and the bladder. In men, this also includes the prostate, penis and testes.
Blood in urine, recurrent urinary tract infection or pain in the flanks, bladder area or groin/testes are the more common signs and symptoms that trigger a scan.
Common radiological investigation or scans include
1) Xray. The most basic application of radiological imaging. Today, this is usually used to assess the response to treatment or surveillance for stones in the kidney/bladder/ureter.
2) Ultrasound - Using non-radiating sound waves to produce pictures of our "insides". This technique is favourable for an initial assessment of the kidneys, bladder and testes.
3) CT - A complex x-ray machine that creates detailed images. A comprehensive test for the entire urinary tract that uses radiation.
4) MRI - Using magnetic fields to create detailed pictures of the human body. This techniques does not use radiation and is the primary diagnostic tool for the prostate, bladder and penis.
5) Nuclear Medicine. This technique creates images of abnormal areas in the body following an injection of a small dose radioactive dye. Commonly used to check for spread of cancer to the bones, among other applications.