Pre-patient collimator having a self-shielding design and additively manufactured components
AssigneeGE Precision Healthcare LLC
InventorsVishwanath Nayak, Saiesh Suryakant Raiker, Sanjay Dyavaiah Patil
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Abstract
A pre-patient collimator for a CT imaging system is provided. The pre-patient collimator includes an additively manufactured housing having a plurality of walls having a variable thickness along each wall of the plurality of walls. The pre-patient collimator also includes an additively manufactured aperture carrier plate having variable thickness and a plurality of apertures configured to determine a size of an X-ray beam received from an X-ray source of the CT imaging system.
Claims20
A pre-patient collimator for a computed tomography imaging system, comprising:
- an additively manufactured housing having a plurality of walls having a variable thickness along each wall of the plurality of walls, wherein at least one wall of the plurality of walls comprises a lattice structure within;
- and
- an additively manufactured aperture carrier plate having variable thickness and a plurality of apertures configured to determine a size of an X-ray beam received from an X-ray source of the CT imaging system.
A collimator housing of a pre-patient collimator for a computed tomography (CT) imaging system, comprising:
- a plurality of walls comprising:
- a first wall configured to face an X-ray source when the pre-patient collimator is coupled to the CT imaging system;
- a second wall and a third wall flanking the first wall;
- and
- a fourth wall extending between the second wall and third wall adjacent the first wall, wherein at least one wall of the plurality of walls comprises a solid structure within and at least one wall of plurality of walls comprises a lattice structure within;
- wherein the collimator housing is additively manufactured as a single piece.
An aperture carrier plate of a pre-patient collimator for a computed tomography imaging system, comprising:
- a plate portion having a plurality of apertures configured to determine a size of an X-ray beam received from an X-ray source;
- and
- mounting brackets respectively located on longitudinal ends of the plate portion, wherein the plate portion comprises a solid structure within and each mounting bracket comprises a lattice structure within, and wherein the aperture carrier plate is additively manufactured as a single piece.
A pre-patient collimator for a computed tomography imaging system, comprising:
- an additively manufactured housing having a plurality of walls having a variable thickness along each wall of the plurality of walls;
- and
- an additively manufactured aperture carrier plate having variable thickness and a plurality of apertures configured to determine a size of an X-ray beam received from an X-ray source of the CT imaging system, wherein the additively manufactured housing comprises a plurality of ribs integral to the additively manufactured housing and configured to provide uniform stress distribution and uniform deflection along the additively manufactured housing, and wherein the plurality of ribs comprises at least one rib extending along at least one edge of at least two walls of the plurality of walls.
A pre-patient collimator for a computed tomography imaging system, comprising:
- an additively manufactured housing having a plurality of walls having a variable thickness along each wall of the plurality of walls;
- and
- an additively manufactured aperture carrier plate having variable thickness and a plurality of apertures configured to determine a size of an X-ray beam received from an X-ray source of the CT imaging system, wherein the additively manufactured housing comprises a plurality of ribs integral to the additively manufactured housing and configured to provide uniform stress distribution and uniform deflection along the additively manufactured housing, wherein the plurality of ribs comprises a set of ribs integral to a wall of the plurality of walls configured to directly face the X-ray source, and wherein the set of ribs are configured to reduce deflection and stress due to centrifugal forces during rotation of the X-ray source.
A pre-patient collimator for a computed tomography imaging system, comprising:
- an additively manufactured housing having a plurality of walls having a variable thickness along each wall of the plurality of walls;
- and
- an additively manufactured aperture carrier plate having variable thickness and a plurality of apertures configured to determine a size of an X-ray beam received from an X-ray source of the CT imaging system;
- wherein the plurality of walls comprises a first wall configured to face the X-ray source, a second wall and a third wall flanking the first wall, and a fourth wall extending between the second wall and the third wall adjacent the first wall, wherein the additively manufactured housing comprises a first set of side structures integral to second and third walls that extend into the internal space of the additively manufactured housing that are configured to couple to and support functional components of the pre-patient collimator, and the additively manufacturing housing comprises an additional side structure integral to the fourth wall that extend into the internal space that are configured to couple to a bowtie filter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.