Types of CT Scanners
- Sequential CT (step-and-shoot CT)
- Spiral CT (helical CT)
- Electron beam tomography (EBT)
- Dual Energy CT (Spectral CT)
- CT perfusion imaging
Medical Applications of CT
- CT of the Head
- Neck
- Lungs
- Angiography
- Cardiac
- Abdomen and pelvis
Non-Medical Applications of CT
- Applications in Archaeology
- Micro-Organism Research
- Timber Sawmill
CT Image Interpretation and Presentation
- Interpretation of Results
- Grayscale and Windowing
- Types of CT Image Reconstruction Techniques
Other Aspects of CT Scanning
- Image Quality in CT Scanning
- Artifacts in CT Images
- Advantages of CT Scanning
- Adverse Effects of CT Scanning
A computed tomography scan (usually abbreviated to CT scan; formerly called computed axial tomography scan or CAT scan) is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers or radiology technologists.
CT scan | |
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![]() Modern CT scanner (2021), photon-counting CT (Siemens NAEOTOM Alpha) | |
Other names | X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT), computerized axial tomography scan (CAT scan), computer aided tomography, computed tomography scan |
ICD-10-PCS | B?2 |
ICD-9-CM | 88.38 |
MeSH | D014057 |
OPS-301 code | 3–20...3–26 |
MedlinePlus | 003330 |
CT scanners use a rotating X-ray tube and a row of detectors placed in a gantry to measure X-ray attenuations by different tissues inside the body. The multiple X-ray measurements taken from different angles are then processed on a computer using tomographic reconstruction algorithms to produce tomographic (cross-sectional) images (virtual "slices") of a body. CT scan can be used in patients with metallic implants or pacemakers, for whom magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is contraindicated.
Since its development in the 1970s, CT scanning has proven to be a versatile imaging technique. While CT is most prominently used in medical diagnosis, it can also be used to form images of non-living objects. The 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to South African-American physicist Allan MacLeod Cormack and British electrical engineer Godfrey Hounsfield "for the development of computer-assisted tomography".