What Is a Chest CT Scan?
A chest computed tomography (to-MOG-ra-fee), or CT, scan is a painless, noninvasive test. It creates precise images of the structures in your chest, such as your lungs. “Noninvasive” means that no surgery is done and no instruments are inserted into your body. A chest CT scan is a type of x ray. However, a CT scan’s pictures show more details than pictures from a standard chest x ray. Like other x-ray tests, chest CT scans use a form of energy called ionizing radiation. This energy helps create pictures of the inside of your chest.
