The National Cancer Institute is launching a lung cancer screening study to test the feasibility of using spiral computed tomography (CT). Spiral CT is a technique that uses X-rays to scan the entire chest in about 15 seconds, during a single breath-hold. Throughout the procedure, the subject lies still on a table and the table passes through the CT machine, which is shaped like a donut with a large whole. The machine rotates around the subject and a computer creates images from the scan, assembling them into a 3-D model of the lungs. The amount of radiation absorbed during a spiral CT scan is comparable to that absorbed during a mammography.
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