CT scan

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Definition Why it's done Risks

How you prepare What you can expect Results

Definition

A CT scan — also called computerized tomography or just CT — is an X-ray technique that produces images of your body that visualize internal structures in cross section rather than the overlapping images typically produced by conventional X-ray exams.

Conventional X-ray exams use a stationary X-ray machine to focus beams of radiation on a particular area of your body to produce two-dimensional images on film or a digital detector, much like a photograph. But CT scans use an X-ray unit that rotates around your body and a powerful computer. The result with CT scans is a set of cross-sectional images, like slices, of the inside of your body.

Doctors recommend a CT scan for a wide variety of reasons.

A conventional X-ray of your abdomen, for example, shows your bones as well as subtle overlapping outlines of your liver, stomach, intestines, kidney and spleen. A CT scan, however, clearly reveals these bones and organs as well as their inner structure and detailed anatomy of your pancreas, adrenal glands, kidneys and blood vessels.

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Why it's done

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