Study pits MDCT against EBCT for cardiac use

Dear AuntMinnie Member,

Have recent advances in multidetector-row technology enabled spiral CT to eclipse electron-beam CT for cardiac imaging? Or do new EBCT scanner designs fortify that modality’s entrenched position as the method of choice in the heart?

These questions were addressed in a presentation at last week’s Symposium on Multidetector-Row CT in San Francisco, where staff writer Eric Barnes was on hand to report for our CT Digital Community.

Dr. Friedrich Knollman from Charité Hospital in Berlin put both techniques to the test, and found that there was no clear winner: each had its strengths for different applications. Multidetector-row mechanical scanning was the clear winner in spatial resolution, while EBCT retained its edge in temporal resolution, despite recent advances in spiral scanning.

How do these characteristics manifest themselves in clinical practice? Find out by reading the story in our CT Digital Community, at http://ct.auntminnie.com.