CT scan
medical imaging procedure using X-rays to produce cross-sectional images
A computed tomography scan (CT scan), formerly known in a more rudimentary state as computed axial tomography scan (CAT scan), is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers or radiology technologists.
CT scanners use a rotating X-ray tube and a row of detectors placed in a gantry to measure X-ray attenuations by different tissues inside the body. The multiple X-ray measurements taken from different angles are then processed on a computer using tomographic reconstruction algorithms to produce tomographic (cross-sectional) images (virtual "slices") of a body. CT scans can be used in patients with metallic implants or pacemakers, for whom magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is contraindicated.
Since its development in the 1970s, CT scanning has proven to be a versatile imaging technique. While CT is most prominently used in medical diagnosis, it can also be used to form images of non-living objects. The 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to British electrical engineer Godfrey Hounsfield and South African–American physicist Allan MacLeod Cormack "for the development of computer-assisted tomography".
Types
On the basis of image acquisition and procedures, various types of scanners are available in the market.
Sequential CT
Sequential CT, also known as step-and-shoot CT, is a type of scanning method in which the CT table moves stepwise.
The public source identifies “CT scan” as medical imaging procedure using X-rays to produce cross-sectional images. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around scan, medical and imaging.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q32566. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1979.
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This entry incorporates text from “CT scan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.