What medical imaging device would be best for precisely locating a tumor within the brain?

i was wondering which medical imaging device (conventional X-ray, DSA, PET, ultrasound, or MRT) would be best for precisely locating a tumor within the brain... Kindly explain your answers please... ^-^

A skull x-ray would only show a bony tumor. The only time I have done a skull x-ray to look for cancer is when we are evaluating the bones of the body to look for bony metastises in a cancer patient.

An ultrasound would not at all be useful, unless it is used in surgery, during brain surgery.

A PET scan is used to see how fast a tumor in the brain is growing, but it is not used to diagnose a brain tumor.

I might be missing something, but I don't know what a DSA is....

A CT scan is a good study to start with. It would pick up a tumor in the brain. A MRI would give more detail regarding the characteristics of a tumor in the brain.

"MR and CT scans of the brain are used to look at the brain when an abnormality is suspected. These give exquisite detail of the structure and anatomy of brain tumors, but provide only part of the picture. The level of aggressiveness is also important. Although tissue samples may indicate the grade of a tumor, PET scanning has been shown to be a more accurate predictor of patient outcome. PET scan can show how fast the tumor cells are growing, which helps your doctor determine the best course of treatment."

http://www.petscaninfo.com/zportal/porta...

"A skull x-ray can show changes in the bones of the skull caused by a tumor. It can also show calcium deposits, which are present in some types of brain tumors."

AND:

"A CT (or CAT) scan is a series of detailed pictures of the brain. The pictures are created by a computer linked to an x-ray machine. In some cases, a special dye is injected into a vein before the scan. The dye helps to show differences in the tissues of the brain.

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) gives pictures of the brain, using a powerful magnet linked to a computer. MRI is especially useful in diagnosing brain tumors because it can "see" through the bones of the skull to the tissue underneath. A special dye may be used to enhance the likelihood of detecting a brain tumor."

http://www.medicinenet.com/brain_tumor/p...

ECG

MRI's ..they may be a little pricier but they are more accurate! This kind of imaging has a much more positive list of advatages than any other and here is a site that tells you the differences and compares..

http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9514252543/h...

PET SCANS are good too because the can detect active and viable tumors , which CT and MRI's cannot do!

Cat scan or MRI;X-rays would dose it with radiation which causes cancer.Both are more precise,but also more expensive and many smaller hospitals don't have them.Each can do a cross section of the brain,precisly mapping the tumor before surgery,if any of the cancer is not removed it will grow back.Any surgery in the brain is risky and the more they have go back and remove what they missed the first time increases the risk.