Are there different kinds of CT scanners?
The earliest CT scanners required as long as two minutes to produce a single, very blurry section of the body. The very newest ones can produce multiple, highly-detailed sections in less than one second. Early CT scanners were able to “slice” the body in only one direction, while newer ones, called “helical” CT scanners, can “slice” the body in many different ways, and can even produce three dimensional images. In CT technology, “multidetector” scanners can produce even more detailed 2-D and 3-D images than were ever before possible, and in much less time. The increased speed of these newer machines often allows for a significant reduction in the amount of intravenous contrast material required for an exam (see below for more about contrast material).
