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Fig. 5 CT images of the spine in standard planar reformatting. a Coronal plane image from a CT
study of the spine, with the spine partially visualized on this image, due to normal kyphotic
thoracic and lordotic lumbar curvature, b sagittal plane image, and c axial plane cross section at the
level of the mid-abdomen. The axial field of view is kept small in this dedicated spine imaging
study to increase the in-plane spatial resolution
current generation CT scanners. However, by convention, standardized orthogonal
planes, relative to anatomic positioning of the body are obtained in clinical practice,
in axial, coronal, and sagittal orientation relative to the long axis of the body.
Additionally, a reconstruction kernel is used in producing the reformatted images,
which may have higher spatial resolution, higher noise, and increased edge defi-
-
nition (a
“
bone
”
kernel), or
improved contrast
resolution,
lower noise, and
decreased edge de
nition (a
“
soft tissue
”
kernel), examples of which are shown in
Fig.
6
[
1
].
Fig. 6 CT images of the spine demonstrating different reconstruction kernels. Axial plane images
from a CT study of the spine, performed with a
“
bone
”
reconstruction kernel for the body (B70),
and b
“
soft tissue
”
reconstruction kernel (B40). Note difference in edge de
nition and noise
between images
