The Future Arrived: Photon-Counting Detector CT

In the past decades, we have witnessed tremendous technical innovations in computed tomography (CT) imaging. These included improvements in temporal and spatial resolution, lowering of the radiation dose, the introduction of dual-energy and multi-energy imaging, automated image preprocessing and machine learning algorithms, and, most recently, the development and clinical introduction of photon-counting detector CT. This special issue of Investigative Radiology comprises a collection of expert summaries and reviews on this most impactful recent innovation and cutting-edge technology of photon-counting detector CT. It includes articles on technical details about this new CT scanner type and summaries of the first clinical experience in cardiac and vascular imaging, neuroimaging, as well as chest and abdominal imaging, and concludes with an outlook to new contrast agents with potential for k-edge imaging, which are on the horizon.