Which imaging modality produces planar images and often requires images to be taken in multiple planes to visualize a lesion's location and size?

• A. Myelography
• B. Fluoroscopy
• C. MRI
• D. X-ray

Answer: (D)

Conventional X-ray imaging creates flat, two-dimensional pictures. Because depth is lost in a single view, clinicians often take images from several angles—front-to-back, side, and sometimes oblique—to triangulate where a lesion is located and to estimate its size. By comparing these different planar views, you can determine the lesion’s position relative to bones and other structures, which is essential for accurate localization. Fluoroscopy is mainly real-time imaging rather than a set of static planes; MRI inherently provides multiplanar images but is designed for detailed soft-tissue visualization in multiple planes, not primarily for localizing a lesion using multiple plain views. Myelography involves contrast-enhanced imaging of the spinal canal and can use radiographs or CT, but the classic description of producing planar views across multiple planes to localize a lesion best fits standard X-ray radiography.