The application of CT reconstructed image in staging lung cancer

Spiral CT has greatly expanded the usefulness of CT in the evaluation of lung cancer. Spiral CT has become the imaging modality of choice for the evaluation of most chest diseases by combining the advantages of a single breath-hold acquisition with improved vascular contrast enhancement, and improved MPR and 3D reconstruction capabilities. MPR and 3D images of spiral CT will also be used to display the 3D relationship between lung tumors and complex hilar structures. Furthermore, introduction of multirow-detector CT realized the advantages of wider scanning range, shorter scanning time and finer z-axis resolution in staging lung cancer. A future application of spiral CT may be not only the morphologic study, but also the perfusion and functional analysis of the tumors, e.g., 3D planning of radiation therapy, assessing pulmonary function and therapeutic effect.