Solid-state CT system and method
AssigneeGE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC
InventorsBruce M. Dunham, John Scott Price, Colin R. Wilson, Douglas Snyder
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A solid state x-ray source (14) for a computed tomograph (CT) imaging system (10) is presented. X-ray source (14) has a cathode (58) which is preferably formed of a plurality of addressable elements. The cathode is positioned within a vacuum chamber (74) so that electrodes emitted thereby impinge upon anode (68) spaced apart from cathode (58). An electron beam (82) is formed and moved along the length of cathode (58). The anode (68) is disposed within a cooling block portion (58) and operatively adjacent to an x-ray transmissive window (66). The anode (68) and x-ray transmissive window (66) are disposed within an elongated channel (64) of the cooling block portion (56).
Claims20
An X-ray source assembly comprising:
- a vacuum housing;
- a cold cathode emitter disposed within said housing;
- a cooling block having a beam opening therethrough;
- an X-ray transmissive window disposed within said beam opening;
- and
- a stationary anode disposed within said housing spaced apart from said emitter and thermally coupled to said cooling block, said anode comprised of a thin metallic film.
An X-ray source assembly comprising:
- a vacuum housing;
- an elongated cathode emitter array having a plurality of X-ray emitter elements disposed within said housing;
- an electrically, thermally conductive cooling block having an elongated beam opening therethrough, said beam opening corresponding to said elongated cathode emitter array;
- an elongated X-ray transmissive window disposed within said beam opening;
- and
- an elongated stationary anode disposed within said housing and spaced apart from said emitter, said anode comprised of a thin metallic film.
An X-ray system comprising:
- a gantry;
- a plurality of stationary detectors disposed within said gantry;
- a plurality of stationary X-ray sources disposed within said gantry opposite said plurality of stationary detectors, each one of said plurality of X-ray sources comprising,
- a vacuum housing;
- a cold cathode emitter disposed within said housing;
- a cooling block having a beam opening therethrough;
- an X-ray transmissive window disposed within said beam opening;
- and
- a stationary anode disposed within said housing and spaced apart from said emitter and thermally coupled to said cooling block, said anode comprised of a thin metallic film.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.