CAT+Scanner

=Computer Axial Tomography (CAT)= csmith112toc



Purpose
//What is the fundamental purpose of the device?// CAT Scanners are used, similarly to x-rays, but the scans are more detailed and precise, in order to look more closely at an object inside the body.

Energy
//What energy transformations are seen in its operation?// There are three main parts of the CAT scanner; the x-ray source, the x-ray detector, and the motor that moves the two. Without these three parts the CAT scanner is not a CAT scanner, but merely an x-ray machine. The x-ray source beams a ray of electromagnetic energy through the body with an extremely high frequency. This makes the beam invisible to the human eye. The x-ray detector receives the beam and the picture that is produced from it and sends it to a computer, which then translates the picture into an x-ray. Once one picture is taken from a specific angle, the source and detector move around the body in order to get x-rays at different angles. As the computer receives the pictures it compresses them into one 3D CAT scan.

Controls
//What sensors/controls are designed into the device?// There are many different controls on a CAT scanner. Controls range from buttons to move the person into the CAT scanner to computer controls to move the x-ray source and detector. The computer controls how the source and detector move around the person and then takes in input from the source and converts it into a computer x-ray and then compresses the x-rays into a CAT scan.

Materials
//What material(s) are essential to the device?// A computer is a big part of the CAT scanner. The computer controls how the source and detector move and compacts the x-rays into a CAT scan.

Science
//What is scientific principle is central to its operation?// EM Radiation

Design
//What does a typical device look like?// CAT scanners look like a donught with a table in the middle. On the inside there is a revolving ring that contains x-ray tubes and x-ray detectors. The ring moves, so the patient doesn't have to, in order to take pictures at different angles. The x-ray tubes shine the ray through the body which sends a picture to the x-ray detector which recieves and processes the picture. The x-ray detector sends the pictures to a computer which combines the many different pictures into one, clear presice picture.

Evolution
//What changes have there been (or could there be) in this device?// Through the years CAT scanners have changed and improved drastically. They started out only scanning the brain and has now moved to being able to scan all areas of the body. The ability for the machine to process information has also improved. At first a single scan of the brain would take hours to process and a complete scan of the whole brain would take days to get a final result. Today CAT scanners process the scans at unimaginable speeds. To scan an entire chest use to take a couple days to complete the whole process, and today takes less than an hour. The comfort a patient feels when in the machine has improved also. A patient use to sit in uncomfortable positions but now a patient lays on his/her back and can comunicate with the doctor through a two way speaker.

Competitors
//What other devices serve a similar purpose?// X-Ray MRI Ultrasound

Partners
//What other devices work in conjunction with this device?// X-Rays

Siblings
//What other devices use the same scientific principle?// X-Rays Microwave Oven TV's