title: Evolution in Computed Tomography: The Battle for Speed and Dose.
abstract: The advent of computed tomography (CT) has revolutionized radiology. Starting as head-only scanners, modern CT systems are now capable of performing whole-body examinations within a couple of seconds in isotropic resolution. Technical advancements of scanner hardware and image reconstruction techniques are reviewed and discussed in their clinical context. These improvements have led to a steady increase of CT examinations in all age groups for a number of reasons. On the one hand, it is very easy today to obtain whole-body data for oncologic staging and follow-up or for trauma imaging. On the other hand, new examinations such as cardiac imaging, virtual colonoscopy, gout imaging, and whole-organ perfusion imaging have widened the application profile of CT. The increasing awareness of risks associated with radiation exposure triggered the development of a variety of dose reduction techniques. Effective dose values below 1 mSv, less than the annual natural background radiation (3.1 mSv/year on average in the United States), are now routinely possible for a number of dedicated examinations, even for coronary CT angiography.
authors.affiliation: From the *Department of Radiology, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany; †Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands; ‡Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; §Department of Medical Physics, University of Crete, Iraklion, Crete, Greece; and ∥X-Ray Imaging and CT, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Lell
authors.forename: Joachim E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Wildberger
authors.forename: Hatem
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alkadhi
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Damilakis
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kachelriess
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D051598:Whole Body Imaging / Q000379:methods*