computerized axial tomography

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Tomography in which computer analysis of a series of cross-sectional scans made along a single axis of a bodily structure or tissue is used to construct a three-dimensional image of that structure. The technique is used in diagnostic studies of internal bodily structures, as in the detection of tumors or brain aneurysms.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a method of examining body organs by scanning them with X rays and using a computer to construct a series of cross-sectional scans along a single axis