Spatial resolution (CT)

Last revised by Andrew Murphy on 23 Mar 2023

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Murphy A, Cruickshank A, Spatial resolution (CT). Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 29 Nov 2023) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-59696

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-59696

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/59696

rID:

59696

Article created:

20 Apr 2018, Andrew Murphy ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Andrew Murphy had no recorded disclosures.

Last revised:

23 Mar 2023, Andrew Murphy ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Andrew Murphy had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

Revisions:

Sections:

Imaging Technology

Synonyms:

Spatial resolution in CT is the ability to distinguish between object or structures that differ in density.

A high spatial resolution is important for one to discriminate between structures that are located within a small proximity to each other.

field of view
- as the FOV increases so do the pixel size; resulting in a decrease
pixel size
- the smaller the pixel size the higher the spatial resolution
focal spot size
- a larger focal spot will decrease the resolution
magnification
- increasing will decrease the resolution
motion of the patient
pitch
- is inversely related to the resolution, the higher the pitch the less the resolution
kernel
- edge enhancement kernels will have a higher resolution than soft tissue kernels
slice thickness
- the larger the slice thickness the lower the resolution
detector size
- increase in detector size decreases resolution