CT Scanner

LightSpeed VCT 64 Slice CT Scanner

X-ray computed tomography (CT) is an imaging method employing tomography created by computer processing. Digital geometry processing is used to generate a three-dimensional image of the inside of an object from a large series of two-dimensional X-ray images taken around a single axis of rotation.

CT produces a volume of data that can be manipulated, through a process known as "windowing", in order to demonstrate various structures based on their ability to block the X-ray beam. Although historically the images generated were in the axial or transverse plane, orthogonal to the long axis of the body, modern scanners allow this volume of data to be reformatted in various planes or even as volumetric (3D) representations of structures. Although most common in medicine, CT is also used in other fields, such as nondestructive materials testing. Another example is archaeological uses such as imaging the contents of sarcophagi or the DigiMorph project at the University of Texas at Austin, which uses a CT scanner to study biological and paleontological specimens.
