Conventional and

Computed Tomography
 Introduction
 Is a radiographic technique that employs
motion to show anatomical structures lying
in the a plane tissue while blurring or
eliminating the detail in images of
structures above and below the plane of
the interest
 Principle
 The principle is based on synchronous
movement of 2 or 3 elements in a
tomographic system
 Tomographic units synchronize the
movements of the x-ray tube and the
image receptor in opposite directions
around stationary fulcrum (pivot point)
during the exposure
 The fulcrum area is sharp
 Principle
 The longer the blurring the less
opportunity to create a sharp image
 The greater distance to the fulcrum the
greater the blurring
 The further the object is from the fulcrum
the greater difference between its
projected motion of the image receptor
and the motion of the image receptor
 This cause image more sharp
 Tomographic Quality
 The tomographic amplitude is the total
distance the tube travels
 The tomographic amplitude is equal or
greater to the exposure amplitude
 Exposure amplitude is the total distance
the tube travels during the exposure
 Blur is the smearing that results in the
loss of nearly all recorded detail of objects
outside the focal plane
 Tomographic Quality
 Increased blurring causes decreased
density
 It is effected by tomographic amplitude,
distance from the fulcrum, distance from
the image receptor, and orientation of tube
motion
 Distance from the fulcrum has a direct
relationship to blur width
 Distance from the image receptor has a
direct relationship to blur width
 Tomographic Quality
 Orientation of tube motion has a direct
relationship to blur width
 Fulcrum controls the section level, and it
may be fixed and patient can move up and
down to change section level
 Focal plane is the section
 Section thickness is the width of the focal
and its control by exposure angle
 Tomographic Quality
 Exposure angle inversely proportional to
section thickness
 The tomographic images exhibit less
contrast than static image
 Section Interval is the distance between
fulcrum levels
 Types of Motion
 Linear it moving along a straight line
 The major quality problem is SID and OID
 Curvilinear reduce magnification and
maintain SID and OID
 Circular
 Elliptical
 Figure eight
 Trispiral
 Hypocyclodial
 Exposure Factors
 Time it must match the time of the x-ray
tube to complete
 Complex tomographic motion often require
3-6 seconds
 mA usually used below 100 to set long
time
 30% more mAs is needed for wider angle
tomography
 Zonography tomographs usually require
the same mAs as static radiograph
 Exposure Factors
 kV 15% rule is a critical tool to determine
the adjustment
 5% change in kVp is required to produce
visible density
 Zonography is a narrow angle tomography
exposure amplitudes less than 10o
Computed Tomography
 Scanner Generations
 1-First generation
2- Second generation
3- Third generation
4- Fourth generation
 Gantry
 Is the movable frame of the CT unit
 It contains the x-ray tube and the detectors

 It maintain the alignment of the tube and

the detectors and contains the equipment
necessary to perform the scanning
movement
 The aperture for the patient is 50-58 cm

 Do not force the obese patient into the

aperture
 Gantry
 Most gantrys can be angled up to 30o
 Table angulation can be sometimes be
used in place of gantry angulation
 Positioning lights are usually mounted on
the gantry intense white halogen lights and
low power laser lights
 There are often 3 positioning lights for
accurate sagittal, coronal, and transverse
centering
 X-ray Tubes
 CT images produce massive amounts of
heat in the x-ray tube
 Focal spots size use 0.6 mm and 1.2 mm
 0.6 mm use a pulsed beam to reduce the
heat load
 Modern CT pulsed scanner tubes operate
at 120 kVp, 1-5 msec pulses
 X-ray tube produce 0.5-5 million heat unit
 Liquid and air-cooled tube housing design
have been developed
 X-ray Tubes
 The radiation beam is double collimated to
assist in eliminating scatter information
 Slight misalignment can create ring artifact
image
 The anode is aligned with their long axis
perpendicular to the scanner plane, this to
prevent heel effect
 Collimation controls voxel length
 Can be vary between 1mm to 13 mm
usually control by the software program
 The dimension width determine by section
thickness or voxel length
 Detectors
 CT detectors should have:
 (a) high capture efficiency i.e. how well the
detectors receive the photon from the
patient and that can be control by
detectors size and the distance between
detectors
 (b) high absorption efficiency i.e. how well
the detectors convert incoming photons, it
determine by the material used as well the
size and thickness of the detector
 Detectors
 (c)high conversion efficiency i.e. how well
the detector convert the absorb photon to
analog or digital signal
 CT detectors should have also high
stability, fast response time, and wide
dynamic range which is the ratio between
the largest signal to the smallest that can
be measured
 Typical modern scanners are capable of
dynamic range of 1,000,000:1
 Computer
 Is design to control the data acquisition,
process and display, and storage
 The computer should be in enclosed room
with controlled temperature and humidity
 CT console provide the radiographer
access to the software program that data
acquisition, controls data processing and
display and storage functions
 Computer
A system program is used to start up the
CT unit, this program turns on and perform
quality assurance, and record various
problems
 The CT console operate from the menu
simply uses a keyboard, light pen
 Data Acquisition
 Controls the tube and detector collimation
(pixel size), matrix size, gantry angle, table
top entrance, section increment
movement, kVp, mA, scan speed
 Display Console
 Controlsthe digital image production
process, that compile the image and
display parameters, such as window width
and level
 Exposure Factor
 Most CT performed at 120 kVp
 Time is not a factor as it must be
controlled by scanning program
 mA should be setup

 Dual energy scanning units required

usually 80 kVp and 140 kVp
 Artifacts
 Motion

 Metal or Star
 Beam Hardening

 Partial Volume Effect

 Ring artifacts