Want to check out your ticker?  Getting a CTA test could be the first step to taking better care of yourself.  A coronary CTA comes from a special type of X-ray examination.  Patients undergoing a coronary CTA scan receive an iodine-containing contrast dye as an IV solution to ensure the best images possible.  The examination takes about 10 minutes.  X-rays pass through the body and are picked up by special detectors in the scanner.  Typically, higher numbers (especially 16 or more) of these detectors result in clearer final images.  For that reason, coronary CTA often is referred to as "multidetector" or "multislice" CT scanning.  The information collected during the coronary CTA examination is used to identify the coronary arties and if present, plaques in their walls with the creation of 3-D images on a computer screen.