ARRT CT study guide
ARRT CT · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
ARRT certification and registration in Computed Tomography (CT) is a postprimary credential. ARRT states its purpose is to recognize individuals qualified to perform the role of a computed tomographer. It is aimed at technologists who already hold ARRT credentials in an approved supporting discipline - in some cases that supporting credential is earned through another organization, such as a Nuclear Medicine Technology credential from the NMTCB - and candidates pursue it through ARRT's postprimary eligibility pathway. The work itself spans the whole body: some patients are being evaluated for disease or an acute condition, others arrive in an emergency so physicians can gauge the extent of injury, and the technologist balances image quality against radiation dose while informing and calming anxious patients. Topics on this exam: Patient Care and Education, Imaging Procedures, and Physics and Instrumentation. The ARRT CT study guide has 3 sections and about 995 words.
01Patient Care and Education
CT patient care questions test whether you can prepare a patient safely and communicate clearly before, during, and after the scan. Know how to obtain a focused history: allergies, prior contrast reactions, renal disease, diabetes and metformin use, pregnancy status, asthma, heart failure, and current medications.
349 words, about 2 min02Imaging Procedures
Procedure questions emphasize protocol selection, patient positioning, contrast timing, and image review. Know common CT protocols: noncontrast head, CTA head and neck, chest without and with contrast, CT pulmonary angiography, abdomen/pelvis in arterial, portal venous, and delayed phases, and spine or musculoskeletal protocols.
316 words, about 2 min03Physics and Instrumentation
CT physics questions test the x-ray tube, filtration, collimation, detector arrays, data acquisition, image reconstruction, and dose metrics. Understand how kVp and mAs affect penetration, noise, contrast, and dose; how pitch relates table speed to beam width; and how voxel size, reconstruction kernel, and slice thickness influence spatial and contrast resolution.
330 words, about 2 min