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Developments in CT

Siemens Medical Solutions, Computed Tomography Department, Siemensstr. 1, 91301 Forchheim, Germany

• The overall performance of a CT system depends on key components such as gantry, X-ray source, a high-powered generator, detector and detector electronics, data transmission systems, and the computer system for image reconstruction and manipulation.
  
• Multidetector row CT (MDCT) is the most significant development in CT since the introduction of spiral CT. MDCT allows for larger volume coverage in shorter scan times and improved longitudinal resolution, approaching the ideal of "isotropic" spatial resolution. The ability to acquire near isotropic volume data paved the way for CT from a cross-sectional slice modality to a volume imaging modality.
  
• ECG-controlled MDCT for the evaluation of the heart and the coronary arteries has entered clinical routine with the latest generation of 64-slice MDCT systems.
  
• MDCT has reached a level of saturation, and a further increase in the number of simultaneously acquired slices will only result in limited clinical benefit. Hence, new system concepts are currently being evaluated and introduced, such as area detector CT and dual source CT.
  
• Combined systems for obtaining comprehensive structural and functional diagnosis, such as PET-CT or SPECT-CT, will gain increasing importance in the near future.