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A relatively new technique, spiral (helical) CT has improved the accuracy of CT for many diseases. A new vascular imaging technique—spiral CT angiography—is noninvasive and less expensive than conventional angiography, and allows doctors to see blood vessels without the need for more invasive procedures.

The term "spiral CT" comes from the shape of the path taken by the x-ray beam during scanning. The examination table advances at a constant rate through the scanner gantry while the x-ray tube rotates continuously around the patient, tracing a spiral path through the patient. This spiral path gathers continuous data with no gaps between images.

With spiral CT, refinements in detector technology support faster, higher-quality image acquisition with less radiation exposure. It is typically eight to 10 times faster than conventional CT. Such speed is beneficial in all patients but especially in elderly, pediatric, or critically ill patients, populations in which the length of scanning was often problematic. A spiral scan can usually be obtained during a single breath hold.

With conventional CT, small lesions may frequently go undetected when a patient breathes differently on consecutive scans, as a lesion may be missed by unequal spacing between scans. The speed of spiral scanning and single breath hold increases the rate of lesion detection.

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