The availability of advanced technology has allowed the improvement of tests such as non-invasive coronary angiography, but it has also served to develop techniques that were previously unknown due to the technical mechanisms of the equipment itself. One of these new techniques developed in the R&D+ Department is joint CT in motion.
What is CT in motion?
This test makes it possible to study joint instabilities, i.e. to know whether the joints are stable or unstable, through certain movements. This technique consists of acquiring multiple phases of a 3D CT scan and then taking all these 3-dimensional phases with a certain movement, mounting them on a film and reproducing them in dynamic. That is why we also call it 4-dimensional CT.
The 16- and 64-corona CTs did not allow this scan to be performed because it takes between 3 and 5 seconds to acquire a volume and, between each volume, more time is required for the machine to prepare for the next acquisition.
Nowadays we can acquire 1 volume in less than 1 second, continuously and non-stop. In this way, while a joint is moving we can acquire all the volumes, something unthinkable in CTs of lower capacity.
What is the purpose of CT in motion?
This test is very useful for surgeons, since it shows, with maximum reliability, whether a ligament is unstable or not, and they can operate safely.
In the past, the only thing that could be done were forced X-rays. The Aquilion One tends, in a more objective way, to assess joint instabilities after doing some maneuver that forces that joint to demonstrate whether it is unstable or not.
To make it more understandable, at the moment a movement is made, if a joint is stable, there is a good congruence and the articular saddles are associated and complement each other. If there is instability, the articular saddles do not associate well and do not fit together.
By means of this technique, it is possible to know and study the biomechanics in movement of the joints of the foot, ankle, hand, arm, wrist. In other words, images of the joints in motion can be captured.