New MDCT Scanners More Varied Than Old CT Scanners
There once was a time when all CT scanners were basically the same in regards to the types of images and information that they were able to provide to the doctors who were using them. As technology in this area of medicine has grown more advanced, there has emerged more diversity in the types of scanners that are coming out. This means that scanners vary in terms of the approach taken to imaging of difficult-to-scan areas of the body (like the heart scan) and that the results of the scan may therefore vary depending on the MDCT scanner used for the procedure.
"Slice wars notwithstanding, there is more to cardiac CT than the number of detector rows. Manufacturers must consider spatial resolution, image noise, artifacts, and temporal resolution when designing their newest CT scanners. Scan speed, coverage area, radiation dose, and cardiac triggering schemes must also be scrutinized -- and corresponding technical trade-offs made." (source)
Because there are so many different things to be taken into consideration, the fourth-generation MDCT scanners that are now being released to medical professionals are not all the same as was more close to the case in the past. It isn't true that some are better than others necessarily but instead the truth is that machines will vary in what they are good for.
Question of the Day: What should doctors do to make sure that they are using the right MDCT scanner for the information that they are seeking since these CT machines have now become varied in their approaches and imaging results?photo link
