CBCT uses a rotating gantry on which an X-ray tube and detector is attached. A cone-shaped X-ray beam is directed through the middle of the temporal bone onto a two-dimensional X-ray detector. Because CBCT uses the entire FOV of the two-dimensional X-ray detector, only a single 360° gantry rotation is necessary to acquire a 3D-volumetric data set. Of this data reconstructions can be made in any desired plane.

The advantages of CBCT over MSCT are the shorter examination time, high spatial resolution, and low radiation dose. It is also less sensitive for metallic and beam hardening artifacts because image acquisition is based on conventional radiographic images. The most important disadvantage of CBCT is its high sensitivity for motion artifacts because the patient has to hold the head perfectly still during the acquisition time of approximately 40 s.