computerized axial tomography

American  

noun

1. the process of producing a CAT scan.

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computerized axial tomography Scientific  

/ kəm-pyo̅o̅′tə-rīzd′ /

1. Tomography in which computer analysis of a series of cross-sectional x-ray images made along a single axis of a bodily structure or tissue is used to construct a three-dimensional image of that structure. The technique is used in diagnostic studies of internal bodily structures, as in the detection of tumors or brain aneurysms.

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Etymology

Origin of computerized axial tomography

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

In the 1960s he built the computerized axial tomography scanner, which uses X rays to give doctors a three-dimensional, cross-sectional view of the body's interior.

From Time Magazine Archive

Seventy-six years later, the computerized axial tomography, or CAT, scanner, hailed as the greatest advance in radiology since the discovery of X rays, appeared on the medical scene.

From Time Magazine Archive