Advances in CT IV : 4th International Scientific User Conference SOMATOM PLUS CT Rotterdam, March 1998

There have been continued advances in the Siemens Somatom Plus CT technology and applications over the last 4 years. Developments in scanning hardware and software have enabled great strides to be made toward rapid high resolution, volumetric imaging and 3D displays. Radiologists have rapidly implemented into these technical advances the clinical environment so as to improve diagnosis and patient care. This book presents the practical experience of an international expert group of radiologists and physicists with some of the major new developments in spiral CT such as dose reduction, image-guided interventions, data postprocessing, and many more. Front Matter....Pages I-XV Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Relationships Between Time, Dose, and Quality in Helical CT....Pages 3-8 Improvement of CT Performance by UFC Detector Technology....Pages 9-15 Dose Reduction Versus Image Quality in Spiral CT: How Far Down Can We Go in Clinical Practice?....Pages 16-26 Dose Reduction in CT by Anatomically Adapted Tube Current Modulation: Principles and First Results....Pages 27-34 Dose Reduction in CT by Anatomically Adapted Tube Current Modulation: First Patient Studies....Pages 35-40 Front Matter....Pages 41-41 Spiral CT and Its Use in Neuroradiology: A Review of Spiral CT Techniques, Real-Time Volume Rendering, and Real Time Neuronavigation....Pages 43-48 Determination of Regional Brain Perfusion by Functional CT....Pages 49-58 The Diagnostic Accuracy and the Role of Three-Dimensional CT Angiography for the Diagnosis of Cerebral Aneurysms....Pages 59-69 Spiral CT vs. Subsecond Conventional CT in Head and Neck Malignancies....Pages 70-75 Spiral CT in Maxillofacial Trauma....Pages 76-82 Front Matter....Pages 83-83 Optimizing CT Angiography of the Chest....Pages 85-97 The Diagnostic Impact of Spiral CT for Pulmonary Embolism....Pages 98-105 Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Diagnostic Management of Pulmonary Embolism....Pages 106-114 Helical CT in the Pediatric Chest....Pages 115-125 Cardiac CT with Prospective Cardiac Gating....Pages 126-136 Imaging of the Heart by ECG-Oriented Reconstruction from Subsecond Spiral CT Scans....Pages 137-143 CT-Guided Diagnostic Punctures of the Chest....Pages 144-145 Front Matter....Pages 147-147 Three-Dimensional Imaging and Virtual Reality Applications of Spiral CT....Pages 149-153 Automatic Bolus Tracking for Spiral CT of the Liver....Pages 154-164 Dual-Phase Spiral CT of Pancreatic Neoplasms....Pages 165-170 Front Matter....Pages 147-147 Contribution of Fast and Spiral CT to Diagnostic Punctures of Abdominal Lesions....Pages 171-174 Spiral CT of the Musculoskeletal System....Pages 175-185 Front Matter....Pages 187-187 Spiral CT: How New Technology Has Improved Scanner Utilization and Productivity....Pages 189-195 Volumetric Analysis of Spiral CT Data....Pages 196-206 Impact of Real-Time Three-Dimensional Rendering of CT Data on Diagnostic Performance....Pages 207-211 Interactive 3D Volume Rendering — Vascular Applications....Pages 212-224 Guidance of Nonvascular Interventional Procedures with Real-Time CT-Fluoroscopy: Early Clinical Experience with C.A.R.E. Vision CT....Pages 225-234 Back Matter....Pages 235-242 We are in the midst of major advances in medical imaging, converting static pre­ sentation of anatomic information into near real-time interactive imaging and displays capable of depicting both structure and function. This will have pro­ found impact on diagnosis and image-guided therapies. These advances have been most notable in the modalities of computed tomog­ raphy and magnetic resonance. These technologies have become capable of ac­ quiring volumetric images in short periods of time. Speed gains in MRI were very significant in the early 1990s with the development of clinically usable pulse se­ quences for gradient-recalled and echo-planar imaging. It appears that further speed gains in MRI will be difficult to achieve. The development of spiral CT has ushered in an era in which major speed gains in CT are also possible. This has enabled creation of new types of applica­ tions such as CT angiography, which has already come to replace catheter angio­ graphy at many medical centers throughout the world. We are very pleased that the results from industrial and academic laboratories have been transferred to the bedside to improve patient care at a speed that may be faster than in any other area of medicine. Concurrent with advances in CT technology there have been dramatic strides in the performance characteristics and costs of computer hardware and software.