CT data acquisition as a basis for modern diagnosis and therapy in maxillofacial surgery.

More than 20 years after its introduction computed tomography has become a routine method in the diagnostic work-up of traumatic and neoplastic disorders in maxillofacial surgery. Short acquisition times of 1 sec per image reduce motion artifacts and permit increased numbers of patient examinations. Different reconstruction algorithms allow specific evaluation of either osseous or soft tissue structures. By adjusting window center and window width the 2048 attenuation values can be transformed into the visible gray scale. Single sequential slices--as employed in routine diagnosis of tumor patients--still yield the highest image quality. Fast volume data acquisition associated with spiral scanning proves to be of special benefit in trauma patients. The resulting data set can be used for reconstruction of single slices, 2-dimensional (2D) reformated images in all planes and 3D surface rendering.