A CT scan creates detailed 3D views of your body by taking X-ray 'slices' like a loaf of bread.

Computed Tomography (CT) was independently developed in the early 1970s by British engineer Godfrey Hounsfield and South African-born physicist Allan Cormack. Their groundbreaking work earned them the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1979. Before this invention, doctors relied on traditional 2D X-rays, which often obscured tumors or internal bleeding behind dense bone or other organs.The technology works through a process called 'tomography,' derived from the Greek words 'tomos' (slice) and 'graphein' (to write). During a scan, a motorized X-ray source rotates 360 degrees around a circular opening called a gantry. As the beam passes through the patient, digital detectors measure the amount of radiation absorbed by different tissues, such as bone, fat, or muscle.These measurements are sent to a powerful computer that uses complex mathematical algorithms, specifically filtered back-projection, to reconstruct the data. The resulting images are cross-sectional 'slices' that can be as thin as 0.5 millimeters. Modern Multi-Detector CT (MDCT) scanners can capture hundreds of these slices in a single rotation, allowing for the creation of high-resolution 3D models of the heart, lungs, or brain in seconds.This precision is vital for emergency medicine, particularly in diagnosing traumatic brain injuries or pulmonary embolisms. According to the Harvard Medical School, over 80 million CT scans are performed annually in the United States alone. This technology has revolutionized modern diagnostics by providing a non-invasive way to visualize the human body with incredible clarity.