256-slice CT creates 4D studies

A prototype 256-slice CT scanner allowed Dr. Shinichiro Mori and a team of Japanese researchers from Chiba and Osaka to perform dynamic imaging of liver cancer in real-time in three randomly selected patients.

They produced 3D coronal renderings of the hepatic veins, abdominal aorta, and renal arteries in less than 40 seconds after contrast injection. The technique also allowed them to observe the backflow of contrast material to the inferior vena cava in one patient experiencing heart failure (AJR 2005;185:253-256).

The 256-slicer provided diagnostically viable cine imaging reconstructions of structures with a craniocaudal distance of approximately 10 cm in any plane with several postprocessing techniques, including full volume renderings and maximum intensity projections. The system can cover one or more organs during one phase of contrast enhancement and can also produce functional studies of the head, liver, and renal and coronary arteries.