Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy and Diffuse Optical Tomography in Neuroscience

CT scanning uses X-rays crossing the sample to image sections of the specimen in study. Specimen can be a living being, a part of if (e.g. the abdomen, a knee, the head, ...) or whatever non-living object. X-rays travel ballistically inside most of the materials (living tissue included), so measuring absorption of X-rays we can guess the composition of the sample we are measuring. Changing the direction of injection of the X-rays and merging absorption data coming from multiple directions makes a planar reconstruction of the examined section of the sample possible. CT is invasive in the sense that irradiates the patient with ionizing radiation. A little dose is given to the patient during a single CT session, anyway. CT scanning of the head is typically used to detect skull fractures, brain injuries, aneurysms, strokes, brain tumors and arteriovenous malformations in the brain.