Types of Exams

Body Imaging

CT scan of the abdomen and/or pelvis is used to evaluate for any abnormality in the body and can be tailored to a specific organ, such as:  liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas, bladder, and adrenal glands.

CT Colonography, also known as virtual colonoscopy, uses a low dose radiation CT scan to obtain an inside view of the colon (large intestine).

Cardiac Imaging

A heart CT scan, also called calcium-scoring, is a test used to detect calcium deposits found in coronary arteries. CT is one of the most effective ways to detect coronary calcification.

Your doctor may also order a coronary CT angiogram (CTA) to look directly at the arteries of the heart.

Chest Imaging

A CT scan of the chest can look for problems with the lungs, the heart, the esophagus, the major blood vessel (aorta) or the surrounding soft tissue structures.

Low dose CT scans of the chest are used as a screening tool before symptoms develop.

Early detection of lung cancer leads to early treatment.

Emergency / Trauma Imaging

The “Panscan”, known as the whole body scan, is a rapid scan through multiple areas of the body in a short amount of time.  This type of scan is very specific in finding injured tissue(s) and/or bone(s). The pan scan includes images of the head, neck, chest, abdomen, and pelvis. 

Musculoskeletal Imaging

A CT scan of the bones may be performed to assess bones, soft tissues, and joints for damage, lesions, fractures, or other abnormalities.

Neuro Imaging

A CT scan of the head includes images of the brain and skull to evaluate for headache, dizziness, fainting, weakness, loss of speech, hearing, or vision, and behavior changes.

A CT scan of the spine is used to evaluate for a herniated disc or narrowing of the spinal cord (spinal stenosis) in patients with neck, arm, leg and/or back pain.

Pediatric Imaging

CT uses “child-size”, low dose, scanning parameters for each area of the body being scanned. Learn more about pediatric imaging at Hasbro Children's Hospital.

Tumor Ablation

With this form of treatment in CT, individual tumors are destroyed using heat (radiofrequency or microwave ablation) or cold (cryoablation) techniques.

This type of therapy is most often performed for tumors involving the liver, kidney, lung and painful tumors of the bone. The goal of ablative therapy is complete tumor destruction.

Vascular Interventional Imaging

A CT angiogram (CTA) uses contrast (x-ray dye) to provide detailed pictures of the blood vessels that go to the brain, neck, lungs, heart, arms, and legs. A CTA can show if a vessel is blocked and where the blockage is located. The CTA can also show whether there is a bulge (aneurysm) or a buildup of fatty material called plaque in a blood vessel.