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Cardiac CT: Basic Principles

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Abstract

Cardiac CT is a fast developing technique. In 10 years, it developed from an investigative tool into a clinical reality. The technology drive has been the key to success for this technique, which is to date the only non-invasive clinical tool for coronary angiographic assessment. Technical background is quite complex and the newer solutions are aiming at reducing the scan time and the radiation dose while improving temporal resolution, contrast resolution, and ultimately image quality. The key technical development was in the late 1990s – the introduction of ECG triggering/gating techniques. Spatial resolution has also been improved reaching sub-millimeter performance. The latest innovations provide fast coverage with >64 slice detectors, high spatial resolution with 0.5 mm slice thickness, high temporal resolution with <100 ms in hardware, and higher contrast resolution with the forthcoming dual-energy solutions.

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Correspondence to Filippo Cademartiri .

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Cademartiri, F., Maffei, E., Palumbo, A., Martini, C., Mollet, N. (2010). Cardiac CT: Basic Principles. In: Zamorano, J.L., Bax, J.J., Rademakers, F.E., Knuuti, J. (eds) The ESC Textbook of Cardiovascular Imaging. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-421-8_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-421-8_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-84882-420-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-84882-421-8

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