Technical Aspects of Multislice Computed Tomography

Computed tomography (CT) is the imaging diagnosis method of high complexity most used in clinical practice. It was born in the 70s by the hand of English engineer Sir Godfrey N. Hounsfield and has been subject to, over the past four decades, numerous technological changes, transforming into, today, the pillar of all imaging methods utilized in the study of patients with tumors located outside of the central nervous system. The development of the helical (spiral) or volume CT in the early 90s, and the incorporation of the multislice technology at the end of this decade, generated a great impact on the diagnostic capability of the technique. The medical community disposes of a variety of non-invasive CT studies that over time have modified the traditional prevention and treatment algorithms. Among them, the angiographies in diverse vascular territories, including the coronary arteries and the pulmonary venous mapping in patients with refractory atrial fibrillation who are candidates for a radiofrequency ablation, or the CT brain perfusion on patients with acute cerebral ischemia. A separate group of studies is one that includes those that utilize virtual imaging reprocessing, highlighting the virtual colonoscopy, a diagnosis procedure that, for the past 15 years, has managed to earn a place in screening for colorectal cancer, as well as the recently developed virtual hysterosalpingography technique.