that's a great question and while i'm tempted to give you an off the cuff answer, i won't because as i said, it's not my field. (sorry, i'm not trying to put you off and i can study it but i don't want to mislead anyone with false information.) in thinking about this, i would wonder whether the fact that this is a cone beam ct device would improve penetration. of course, there are issues related to scatter and such. there are also some circumstances when fat actually helps the image quality. but i should stop there, this question is better left to a med physics guy.
i don't mean to be glib...though i said it's a good question, it's really not one i consider routinely NOW as an internist. that's because there is a BIGGER limitation to think about; the major barrier for bariatric patients seems to be their size in a purely physical sense. i mean to say the caliber of the ct bore and the load bearing capacity of the table physically limits how large a patient you can put in there.
i suspect that these two limitations alone turn away many, many, many more patients than the question of penetration. to be frank Frank, i've never had a radiologist call me and say, "well, your patient fits but we're not scanning because there is too much fat in the way." in general, if they can squeeze someone in, i think they tend to give it a try.
incidentally, since i think this device is more intended for an interventional use rather than diagnostic, it bears mentioning the larger bore of the dvis would in theory remove part of the problem for some patients anyway. finally, you should also keep in mind that the morbidly obese face enormous barriers that far outweigh the question of radiation penetration. issues like the ever-present comordities that come with obesity, higher post op complication risk, etc. etc. THOSE items would take precedence over the radiology in anything but the most emergent situation.
morbid obesity...bad, bad news all the way around (pardon the pun).
hope that helps.
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