RADIONUCLIDE COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY: APPLICATIONS IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE.

Tomography is an imaging modality in which information in one plane is displayed in focus while information from overlying and underlying planes is either blurred or eliminated. As a result, there is an improvement in the contrast of structures in the plane of interest. Computerized axial tomography (CAT) is an imaging modality in which a digital computer mathematically reconstructs the image of a plane or section from data collected perpendicular to the axis of that plane. The axis of the plane and the patient's long axis usually coincide so that the reconstructed images reveal transverse sections. In recent years, two types of computed tomography in medical imaging have generated a great deal of interest. These are X-ray transmission and radio-nuclide emission computed tomography.