How CT Scan Works

CAT, CT scan stands for Computerized Axial Tomography. It's a way of using a spinning Xray and computer to make high resolution images of the inside of your body. You lie flat on a table which slides through this machine and takes many circular pictures which are put together by a computer algorithm into a final sequential film.

Any part of your body can be captured and a technologist instructs the CAT, CT scan where to begin and end taking pictures. To enhance difficult to make out areas, some CAT, CT scans are done after injecting you with a special contrast dye to clarify indistinct areas of tissue.

The above picture shows a brain CAT, CT scan of a twenty year old with weakness on his right side. The red dots show that he's weak because there's damaged brain tissue on that side - the black areas. The bones of the skull look like a white halo and normal brain tissues looks speckled gray. Below is a picture of an actual CAT, CT scan machine:

Risk CT Scan, CT Scan Danger

Risks from taking a modern CAT, CT scan are low. A single CT scan is equivalent to about 8 months of natural outdoor cosmic radiation. Obviously risk becomes more significant with multiple repeated CT scans as radiation exposure is additive. This is why radiographers who are potentially exposed to radiation for many hours everyday wear lead protected vests or stand behind a protective wall when firing their CT scanners.

CT scan information

 

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