Musculoskeletal Computed Tomography (CT) Scan

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Diagnostic imaging method using a low-dose beam of X-rays that crosses the body in a single plane at many different angles. Conceived by William Oldendorf and developed independently by Godfrey Hounsfield and Allan M. Cormack, who shared a 1979 Nobel Prize for their inventions, this major advance in imaging technology became generally available in the early 1970s. Detectors record the strength of the exiting X-rays; this information is then processed by computer to produce a detailed two-dimensional cross-sectional image of the body. A series of such images in parallel planes or around an axis can show the location of abnormalities (especially tumours and other masses) more precisely than can conventional X-ray images.

 

Other names

Computed axial tomography.

Purpose

• To diagnose problems in the upper and lower spine, including herniated discs and spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal).
• To diagnose disorders of the hip joint.
• To identify abnormalities of various nerves in the spine.
• To detect tumors in bones or surrounding tissues.
• To establish the location of an abscess.
• To examine skeletal changes in osteoporosis and other metabolic bone diseases.

Interpretation

The doctor studies the images, looking for abnormalities that may signal disease of the musculoskeletal system.