How is the a CT scan performed?
The patient is positioned on the table on his or her back, side or stomach, and may be provided with pillows for comfortable support. The technician leaves the room and the table moves slowly, often undetectably, through the CT scanner “doughnut.” The x-ray beam inside the CT unit spirals slowly around the patient on all sides, creating 360-degree images or slices of the area being examined; as the table and the patient move through the unit, many slices are captured. After the scan is complete, these slices are combined by computer into a highly detailed three-dimensional image of the injury.
