CT Scan

A computed tomography scan (CT scan; formerly known as computed axial tomography scan or CAT scan) is a medical imaging technology that produces comprehensive interior pictures of the body. Radiographers and radiology technicians are the people who do CT scans.

CT scanners assess X-ray attenuations by various tissues inside the body using a revolving X-ray tube and a series of detectors mounted on a gantry. The many X-ray measurements acquired from various angles are then processed on a computer using tomographic reconstruction methods to provide tomographic (cross-sectional) pictures of a body (virtual “slices”). CT scans can be utilised in individuals who have metallic implants or pacemakers and cannot have magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

CT scanning has proven to be a versatile imaging method since its inception in the 1970s. While CT is most commonly used to diagnose medical conditions, it may also be used to create pictures of non-living objects. South African-American physicist Allan M. Cormack and British electrical engineer Godfrey N. Hounsfield shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for “the creation of computer-assisted tomography.”