Soraya Robinson, MD

The feasibility of 3T MR as a general-purpose clinical imaging modality is an ongoing controversy. Although whole-body 3T MRI has been available for several years, most systems to date have been sold to university hospitals and research facilities.

Conebeam CT (CBCT) evolved from microCT technology. The first devices, developed for nonhuman studies, allowed 3D imaging with high spatial resolution to be applied to studies of bone architecture and mineralization, adipose tissue quantification, visualization of heart valves' structural failures, quantification of radionuclide tomographic images, vasculature, and experimental endodontology.1 All of these techniques required spatial resolution in the range of 1 to 60 micron, warranting exposure times of 20 minutes to several hours.