Computed Tomography (CT Scan) By: George Douleh. History CT was invented by Godfrey Hounsfield, a British Engineer and Allan Comrack, a South African.

Computed Tomography(CT Scan)

By: George Douleh

History

CT was invented by Godfrey Hounsfield, a British Engineer and Allan Comrack, a South African physicist, in 1972.

Awarded the Nobel Prize for contributions to medicine and science in 1979.

First CT scanners available in 1976, originally dedicated to head imaging only.

Became widely available by 1980. However took days to construct a single image.

History

Current Technology

Roughly 6,000 CT Scanners in the U.S And about 30,000 worldwide.

Therefore have become much less costly. $2,000-$3,000 to get a CT Scan

A 512 x 512 inch image can now be constructed in less than a second.

Images are now much more detailed.

Current Technology

Procedure

Many x-ray beams and a set of x-ray detectors rotate around the body, measuring the amount of radiation absorbed by your body.

The examination table is at the same time moving through the scanner, so it follows a spiral path.

A special computer processes the data and created a 2 dimensional cross sectional image of your body.

Displayed on the monitor. Procedure usually takes about 30 minutes

Uses of CT Scans

CT Scans are used to view: Internal organs Bone Soft tissue Blood vessels

Pros

Painless and accurate Can image bone, soft tissue, and blood vessel

at the same time Can be used even if you have an implanted

device. Fast and simple; reveal internal injuries quickly

enough to save lives!

Cons

Radiation exposure

– Very slight chance of obtaining cancer Very time consuming

– patient must remain motionless for roughly 30 minutes

Limitations

Soft tissue near the brain, internal pelvis organs, knee or shoulder can be seen more clearly with MRI

The moving table weight limit is about 450 pounds

Radiation exposure limits amount of CT Scans you can receive.

Claustrophobia

Future

Multi-Sensor CT Scan

– shorter exam times Decreased X-Ray exposure Even faster results More detail

Works Cited

"Brief History of CT | CT Scan." Imaginis. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. <http://www.imaginis.com/ct-scan/brief-history-of-ct>.

"CAT Scan (CT) - Body." RadiologyInfo - The Radiology Information Resource for Patients. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. <http://radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=bodyct>.

"CT Scan - Tests, Test Results & Diagnosis - NY Times Health Information." Health News - The New York Times. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. <http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/test/ct-scan/overview.html>.

Davis, Lawrence M. "CT Scan." EMedicineHealth. Web. 23 Apr. 2011. <http://www.emedicinehealth.com/ct_scan/article_em.htm>.

Saxena, Rajeev. "CT Scan Machine Gives Radiation Overdoses At Cedar Sinai Hospital | Trends Updates." Trends Updates - Gadgets, Fashion, Automobile, Environment. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. <http://trendsupdates.com/ct-scan-machine-gives-radiation-overdoses-at-cedar-sinai-hospital/>.