title: CT coronary angiography: 256-slice and 320-detector row scanners.
abstract: Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) has rapidly evolved from 4-detector row systems in 1998 to 256-slice and 320-detector row CT systems. With smaller detector element size and faster gantry rotation speed, spatial and temporal resolution of the 64-detector MDCT scanners have made coronary artery imaging a reliable clinical test. Wide-area coverage MDCT, such as the 256-slice and 320-detector row MDCT scanners, has enabled volumetric imaging of the entire heart free of stair-step artifacts at a single time point within one cardiac cycle. It is hoped that these improvements will be realized with greater diagnostic accuracy of CT coronary angiography. Such scanners hold promise in performing a rapid high quality "triple rule-out" test without high contrast load, improved myocardial perfusion imaging, and even four-dimensional CT subtraction angiography. These emerging technical advances and novel applications will continue to change the way we study coronary artery disease beyond detecting luminal stenosis.
authors.affiliation: Applied Imaging Science Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital Radiology & Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Edward M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Hsiao
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Rybicki
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steigner
mesh_terms: D002637:Chest Pain; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular; D006801:Humans; D055414:Myocardial Perfusion Imaging; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods