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what, when and how of CAT scan
CAT scan definition - medical term
Pictures of structures within the body created by a computer
that takes the data from multiple X-ray images and turns them in pictures on a screen.
The CAT (computerized axial tomography) scan can reveal some soft-tissue and other
structures that cannot even be seen in conventional X-rays. Using the same dosage
of radiation as that of an ordinary X-ray machine, an entire slice of the body can
be made visible with about 100 times more clarity with the CAT scan.
The "cuts" (tomograms) for the CAT scan are usually made 5 or 10 mm apart. The
CAT machine rotates 180 degrees around the patient's body; hence, the term "axial."
The machine sends out a thin X-ray beam at 160 different points. Crystals positioned
at the opposite points of the beam pick up and record the absorption rates of the
varying thicknesses of tissue and bone. The data are then relayed to a computer
that turns the information into a 2-dimensional cross-sectional image.
CAT scanning is painless. Iodine-containing contrast material is sometimes used
in CAT scanning. If you are having a CAT scan and are allergic to iodine or other
radiocontrast materials, please notify your doctor and the radiology staff.
CAT scanning was invented in 1972 by the British engineer Godfrey N. Hounsfield
(later Sir Godfrey) and the South African (later American) physicist Alan Cormack.
CAT scanning was already in general use by 1979, the year Hounsfield and Cormack
were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for its development.
The CAT scan is also known as the CT (computerized tomography) scan.
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