Basic CT Principles Flashcards
General radiography
Imaging modality that produces 2D images
Limitations:
-superimposition of all structures
-difficult to distinguish slight density changes of tissues
-difficult to identify precise location of abnormalities
Tomography
-x-ray tube and film move simultaneously and in opposite directions
-imaging modality that brings into focus only the anatomical structure lying in a plane of interest, while structures on either side of that plane are blurred
-immediate goal us to eliminate structures above and below the focused section or focal plane. This is difficult to achieve
-limitations: persistent image blurring that cannot be completely removed, degradation of image contrast because of scatter, fail to demonstrate slight differences in subject contrast (tissue), contrast cannot be adjusted after it has been recorded on film
-focal plane (aka section thickness)
▪️blur ⬆️ as distance from the focal plane ⬆️
▪️fulcrum: imaginary pivot point about which the x-ray tube and the image recpetor move
-⬆️ tomographic angle = ⬇️ section thickness
Focal plane
Section thickness
Fulcrum
-imaginary pivot point about which the x-ray tube and the image receptor move
Advantages of tomography vs general radiography
⬆️ radiographic contrast
⬆️ subject contrast
⬇️super imposition
Disadvantages of tomography vs general radiography
⬆️ patient dose
What is a shortcoming of radiography?
Superimposition of structures
What is an example of a negative contrast agent?
Air, water
How would a contrast agent with a high Z (atomic #) affect a radiographic image?
Increased image contrast, due to increased absorption
If an object is slightly less dense than water, what would be the expected HU measurement?
-10
The gantry houses all of the following except A) 3 phase generator B) beam collimators C) collimators D) DAS
A) 3 phase generator
_____ interactions produce scatter, which degrades image quality and image _____. Anytime more of these types of interactions occur image quality is _____
COMPTON interactions produce scatter, which degrades image quality and image CONTRAST. Anytime more of these types of interactions occur image quality is DECREASED
True or false: two essential components of a digital image processing system are the ADC and the DAC
TRUE
What is another name for density values?
CT numbers
Increasing _______ reduces patient dose, because the ____ energy photons that could be absorbed by the patient are removed from the x-ray beam
Filtration, low energy photons
Data acquisition in CT refers to
Getting data from the patient through a systematic motion of the x-ray tube and detectors
What is not a common anatomical landmark in CT?
Jugular notch
Give an example of a low attenuation structure
Trachea (air filled)
What does not produce a transverse axial sectional image?
Conventional radiography
An image of a hyposthenic will have _____ than an image of an asthenic patient?
Decreased radiographic density, due to exponential attenuation
What happens to the emission spectrum when a higher voltage waveform is utilized?
Increased amplitude; increased average energy
True or false: area closest to the fulcrum has less blur
TRUE
Farther away from fulcrum = more blur
True or false: fulcrum is dead centre on image
True
True or false: big angle on the tube = smaller slice
True!
Tomography problems
- image blurring (poor image contrast outside of focal plane)
- patient dose
- GOOD for curved structures
True or false: The isocenter of a gantry is not an important consideration for patient positioning
False!
What is a universal limitation, and what is a common concern in x-ray imaging?
Heat production; motion
True or false: decreasing the tomographic angle increases slice thickness
True!
In CT, a high kilo-voltage technique is generally used for which reason?
Decrease the dependence of attenuation coefficients on photon energy
When a projectile electron interacts with the nuclear field of an atom and changes directions it loses _____ energy, in the form of _____ radiation
Kinetic energy, bremsstrahlung radiation
The x-ray generator used in modern CT scanners is a ____ generator
High frequency generator
What is not a synonym for the preliminary (or localizer) image taken at the start of a CT examination
Spiral
True or false: scouts are used to check for accurate patient positioning
False!
This factor controls beam quality
kVp
KVp affects what 3 aspects of the emissions spectrum
Quantity, average energy, peak energy
What contributes no useful information to the radiographic image
Compton scatter
The total number of photons remaining in an x-ray beam after penetrating through a given thickness also stated as the degree to which an x-ray beam is reduced by an object is referred to as
Attenuation
A complete set of ray sums is
A view (aka projection)
A patient who appears thin, but healthy can be described by this term
Hyposthenic
This term describes an average sized patient
Sthenic
Only the amplitude of the emission spectrum is affected by this controlling factor
Quantity (aka mAs)
The detector (DAS) captures each arriving ray and senses how much of the beam was attenuated is called
Ray sum (aka data sample)
This type of interaction is defined by a projectile electron interaction with the nuclear field of an atom
Bremsstrahlung
The path that the x-ray beam takes from the tube to the detector is a
Ray
This factor controls beam intensity
MAs
The attenuation measurements of the transmitted radiation, that reconstruct an image of the scanned object is a
Projection profile
What are the main advantages of CT over conventional radiography?
- elimination of superimposed structures
- ability to differentiate small differences in density of anatomic structures and abnormalities
- superior quality of images
The preliminary image each scanner produces may be referred to as
- scout
- topogram
- scanogram
Spatial resolution
-the ability of a system to define small objects distinctly
Low-contrast resolution
The ability of a system to differentiate, on the image, objects with similar densities
Temporal resolution
- refers to the speed that data can be acquired
- this speed is particularly important to reduce or eliminate artifacts that result from object motion ex when imaging the heart
The images created by CT are
Cross sectional
Each CT slice represents a specific plane in the patients body. The thickness of the plane is referred to as the ___ axis
Z axis
-z axis determines the thickness of the slices
True or false: selecting a slice thickness limits the x-ray beam so that it passes only through this volume
True!
In CT the most common matrix size is
512
-this translates to 512 rows of pixels down and 512 pixels across
True or false: a larger matrix size will contain smaller individual pixels?
True!
X-ray photons that pass through objects unimpeded are represented by a ____ area on the image. These areas on the image are commonly referred to as having ___ attenuation
Black, low
X-ray beam that is completely absorbed by an object cannot be detected; the place on the image is ____. An object that has the ability to absorb much of the x-ray beam is referred to as having ____ attenuation
White, high attenuation
Areas of intermediate attenuations are represented by various shades of ____
Grey
The number of photons that interact depends on what 3 things?
- Thickness
- Density (objects that are more dense provide more opportunities for photon interaction compared to less dense elements)
- Atomic number of object
Two examples of positive contrast agents
- barium sulfate
- iodine
To differentiate adjacent objects on a CT image, there must be a ____ difference between the two objects
Density difference