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Multi-Slice Cumputed Tomography Technical Principles, Clinical Application and Future Perspective

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Coronary Radiology

Part of the book series: Medical Radiology ((Med Radiol Diagn Imaging))

Abstract

Coronary artery imaging is a demanding application for any non-invasive imaging modality. On the one hand, high temporal resolution is needed to virtually freeze the cardiac motion and to avoid motion artifacts in the images. On the other hand, sufficient spatial resolution - at best sub-millimeter - is required to adequately visualize small and complex anatomical structures like the coronary arteries. The complete coronary artery tree has to be examined within one short breath-hold time to avoid breathing artifacts and to limit the amount of contrast agent if necessary. In 1984, electron beam CT (EBCT) was introduced as a non-invasive imaging modality for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (Boyd and Liption 1982; Agatstonet al. 1990; Achenbach et al. 1998; Becker et al. 2000a). The temporal resolution of 100 ms allows for motion-free imaging of the cardiac anatomy in the diastolic heart phase even at higher heart rates. Due to the restriction to non-spiral scanning in ECG-synchronized cardiac investigations, a single breath-hold scan of the heart requires slice widths not smaller than 1.5-3 mm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Siemens Medical Solutions, Division Computed Tomography, Siemensstrasse 1, 91301, Forchheim, Germany

    Bernd Ohnesorge PhD & Christoph R. Becker PhD

  2. Department of Radiology, University of Munich, Grosshadern Clinic, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377, München, Germany

    Thomas Flohr MD

  3. Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Groningen, PO Box 30 001, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Joost Dorgelo MD & Matthijs Oudkerk PhD

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  1. Bernd Ohnesorge PhD
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  2. Christoph R. Becker PhD
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  4. Joost Dorgelo MD
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  1. Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Matthijs Oudkerk MD, PhD (Professor) (Professor)

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Ohnesorge, B., Becker, C.R., Flohr, T., Dorgelo, J., Oudkerk, M. (2004). Multi-Slice Cumputed Tomography Technical Principles, Clinical Application and Future Perspective. In: Oudkerk, M. (eds) Coronary Radiology. Medical Radiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06419-1_6

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