TECHNOLOGIC ADVANCES IN COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY

Technologic improvements in CT continue. As always, emphasis in the past year has been on reducing scan times. Units employing slip-ring technology are now available. This technology makes possible spiral scanning, which promises to further reduce the effects of image-degrading patient motion, as well as opening new possibilities for quantitative and dynamic CT studies. These applications are discussed here and an update on the advances on cine-CT and the Dynamic Spatial Reconstructor unit is provided. Three-dimensional reconstructions obtained at very short scan times promise to be of particular benefit for scanning the bronchial tree. Finally, patient doses of radiation in CT are discussed.