Cardiovascular imaging procedures sometimes use  X-rays, gamma rays, powerful magnets and advanced computer software to create detailed pictures and videos of the internal structures of your body including your heart. 

Some of these scanning techniques may also use a contrast solution, a dye which makes your heart and vessels more clearly visible to the physician on a computer screen. The contrast “lights up” the blood stream like food coloring would change the color of clear water, allowing you to see it moving through a straw. Other tests, such as echocardiography (echo, or cardiac ultrasound), use high-frequency sound waves to visualize the heart muscle, heart valves (doorways between heart rooms or chambers) and blood flow. 

These procedures are non-invasive and essentially painless, requiring only an IV insertion in some instances. All of these can be performed in a comfortable outpatient setting. 

In addition to a full range of traditional imaging procedures, the Gill Heart Institute has advanced imaging technologies offered only by a few imaging centers in the country, including 3D echocardiography, tissue Doppler and speckle tracking imaging. Gill also offers newer technologies and methods for looking at how your heart functions. These advanced cardiac imaging modalities include cardiac computed tomography (CT) (essentially a noninvasive heart catheterization) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (the only way to actually see a heart muscle scar after a heart attack). 

We specialize in working with the lowest dose of radiation possible. This is particularly important in the evaluation of our younger and female heart patients.