Multislice technology raises the bar again

By: Jane Lowers, Supplements Editor

Just a year ago, imaging centers experienced with four-slice CT technology were relatively uncommon. A year later, those same centers find themselves, literally, with last year's technology. Four-slice research has proliferated, and early adopters of eight- and 16-slice technology are starting to feel their way through promising applications in cardiovascular imaging and other single breath-hold applications.

In the process, CT, as radiology's workhorse, is becoming increasingly useful and flexible, supplanting plain film and other emergency room imaging with its increasing sensitivity. In this supplement, University of Maryland researchers outline their protocol for one-pass trauma CT designed to send patients from the emergency room to surgery without further imaging requirements. Researchers who study CT's applications in the lung note that thinner slices, single breath-hold scans, and 3D reconstructions improve the ability to identify elusive pulmonary emboli.

Oncology, too, holds great potential, as multiphase liver imaging adds sensitivity to scans for primary and metastatic masses, and reconstructions of the colon seek out dangerous polyps. Cardiovascular imaging, however, may capture the most interest of all. Multislice imaging has made angiography feasible and accurate, while upper end equipment shows the potential to pave new territory in structural and functional imaging of the heart.

In every subspecialty, the multislice CT learning curve is accompanied by a growing recognition that image reconstruction, reading, and storage methods will have to evolve to keep pace with the workflow. All of which should be more than enough to keep imagers engaged and challenged until the projected 32- and 64-slice units appear on the horizon.