The first commercially viable CT machine for medical use was invented in 1979 and the technology earned two independent developers of similar technology the 1979 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Since 1979, CT machines have become much more sensitive and better equipped to help doctors diagnose and treat medical problems like tumors and cancer. BBC News is reporting that Philips unveiled its latest 256-slice Brilliance CT machine at the Radiological Society of North America.

The new CT machine is much faster at imaging than previous machines thanks to a 22 percent faster rotation of the X-ray emitting gantry that spins around the patient inside the familiar CT ring. The machine is able to take the 256-slices and arrange them into 3D representations of a patient’s body that can be viewed from any angle and manipulated to see all sides of the body or organ.

Steve Rusckowski, chief executive of Philips Medical Systems told BBC News, “This scanner allows radiologists to produce high quality images and is also designed to reduce patients' exposure to X-rays. It is so powerful it can capture an image of the entire heart in just two beats."

Another feature of the Brilliance CT machine is that it allows the digital scans to be shared and viewed on any computer in the hospital and allows for remote viewing of scans when needed. The faster scan speeds also result in the patient being exposed to as much as 80 percent less radiation.