Some technical considerations in tomographic coronary arteriography

Coronary artery anatomy can be visualized using high-speed, volume scanning x-ray CT. A single scan during a bolus injection of contrast medium provides image data for display of all angles of view of the opacified coronary arterial tree. Due to the tomographic nature of volume image data, the superposition of the vessels on themselves and on other contrast filled coronary arteries, such as would occur in an aortic root injection of contrast agent, can be eliminated. To achieve the goal of coronary arteriography using a single angiographic injection, the tomographic scanner must scan the entire volume encompassing the coronary arteries synchronously and within a brief period of time. The volume must be scanned so that the thickness of the scanned slices is less than the diameter of the smallest vessel desired to be visualized quantitatively. Preliminary results from a fast volume scanning CT scanner (the Dynamic Spatial Reconstructor) used to scan experimental animals are used to indicate the quantitative and qualitative impact of such variables as scanned slice thickness, scanned slice separation and angle between the vessel and the plane of the scanned slices.