What is a CT scan and what is the equipment like?

What is a CT scan?

CT is a diagnostic test that uses X-rays to obtain images of the inside of the body.

Unlike conventional radiography, in CT the images obtained are very thin slices or sections, which provide millimetric detail of the organ or system to be studied.

Can this test be called by any other name?

We traditionally call this test CT because it stands for computed axial tomography. Tomography comes from the Greek tomos, which means cut or section and from graphos, which means image or graph, therefore a CT scan would be a series of axial images of small cuts or sections of the body, and which have been obtained thanks to a computer.

At present, the constant evolution of computers has made it possible to reconstruct images in planes other than axial, so it has been considered more appropriate to eliminate the term axial and call this test CT or computed tomography.

Another name with which we can also call this study is Scanner, since this is the name given to the machine with which the test is performed.

What is the equipment like?

The equipment with which the CT scan is performed consists of a large casing with a circular hole, through which a stretcher passes. We could say that it looks like a giant ring.