New developments in MSCT

Progress in MSCT is focused on new applications and software development. A hot topic is multispectral imaging which allows for tissue differentiation using at least two energy-levels. Besides differentiation of calcification and iodine in CT-angiography and oncologic imaging, there is also increasing interest in other application fields. Ultrafast imaging nearly eliminates breathing and pulsation artifacts allowing examination of non-compliant patients without sedation or anesthesia. Perfusion can now be extended to large body regions using large detectors or applying shuffle-techniques. New software developments include iterative reconstruction and organ specific dose modulation allowing for dose reduction and for protection of radiosensitive organs. (orig.)