What Is a CT Scan?

CT (computerised tomography) is a computerised x-ray imaging procedure in which a narrow beam of x-ray is aimed at a patient and quickly rotated around the body to produce signals. The machine's computer processes the signals to create cross-sectional images of the body. Once several successive cross-sectional images are collected, they can be digitally "stacked" together to form a 3D image of the patient.