diff --git a/PanTS-Demo/src/components/Preview.tsx b/PanTS-Demo/src/components/Preview.tsx
index 1f554ba..0a298c8 100644
--- a/PanTS-Demo/src/components/Preview.tsx
+++ b/PanTS-Demo/src/components/Preview.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-import { useState } from "react";
+import { useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { useNavigate } from "react-router-dom";
 import { API_BASE } from "../helpers/constants";
 import { prefetchViewer } from "../helpers/prefetchViewer";
+import { prefetchVolume } from "../helpers/prefetchVolume";
 import type { PreviewType } from "../types";
 
 type Props = {
@@ -25,6 +26,9 @@ export default function Preview({
 	const [imgLoaded, setImgLoaded] = useState(false);
 	const [imgError, setImgError] = useState(false);
 	const [hovered, setHovered] = useState(false);
+	// Warm the low-res CT only after a short hover dwell, so skimming across the grid
+	// doesn't fire a fetch per card. Cleared on mouse-leave.
+	const prefetchTimer = useRef<ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null>(null);
 	// Prefer the lab's local data via the existing backend endpoint; fall back to
 	// the HuggingFace dataset if the local profile image isn't available on the
 	// server (so thumbnails never break regardless of deployment). Loaded natively
@@ -65,8 +69,17 @@ export default function Preview({
 			onMouseEnter={() => {
 				setHovered(true);
 				prefetchViewer(); // warm the viewer JS chunk so clicking feels instant
+				// warm the low-res CT too, after a brief dwell (see prefetchVolume)
+				if (prefetchTimer.current) clearTimeout(prefetchTimer.current);
+				prefetchTimer.current = setTimeout(() => prefetchVolume(id), 150);
+			}}
+			onMouseLeave={() => {
+				setHovered(false);
+				if (prefetchTimer.current) {
+					clearTimeout(prefetchTimer.current);
+					prefetchTimer.current = null;
+				}
 			}}
-			onMouseLeave={() => setHovered(false)}
 			onClick={() => navigate(`/case/${id}`)}
 		>
 			{/* Gradient accent line — slides in on hover */}
diff --git a/PanTS-Demo/src/helpers/prefetchVolume.ts b/PanTS-Demo/src/helpers/prefetchVolume.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c49f44a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PanTS-Demo/src/helpers/prefetchVolume.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+// Warms the low-res CT for a case on card hover so clicking pays only decode + render,
+// not the download. Pairs with prefetchViewer.ts (which warms the JS chunk).
+//
+// The volume responses are immutable (7-day Cache-Control), so a prefetched CT is reused
+// straight from the browser cache on click. Guardrails keep this safe on shared JHU infra:
+//   - CT only (never the mask) to halve bandwidth
+//   - dedupe: each case is fetched at most once per session
+//   - a global concurrency cap so hovering across the grid can't stampede the backend
+//     (this cap is also why it's safe before the low-res batch exists — worst case is a
+//      couple of full-res CTs in flight, not the whole grid)
+// Callers should debounce with a short hover dwell (see Preview.tsx) so a quick pass-over
+// doesn't trigger a fetch.
+import { API_BASE } from "./constants";
+
+const MAX_CONCURRENT = 2;
+const requested = new Set<number>();
+const queue: number[] = [];
+let inFlight = 0;
+
+function pump(): void {
+	while (inFlight < MAX_CONCURRENT && queue.length > 0) {
+		const id = queue.shift()!;
+		inFlight += 1;
+		// low-res by default; the server serves full res only if low-res isn't generated yet.
+		fetch(`${API_BASE}/api/get-main-nifti/${id}.nii.gz?res=low`)
+			// Drain the body so the response is fully received and cached, then let it GC.
+			.then((r) => (r.ok ? r.blob() : null))
+			.catch(() => null)
+			.finally(() => {
+				inFlight -= 1;
+				pump();
+			});
+	}
+}
+
+/** Queue a low-res CT prefetch for a dataset case (idempotent, bandwidth-bounded). */
+export function prefetchVolume(id: number): void {
+	if (!Number.isFinite(id) || requested.has(id)) return;
+	requested.add(id);
+	queue.push(id);
+	pump();
+}