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US 8,571,172 B2Granted
CT cone beam scanner
AssigneeArineta Ltd.
InventorsEhud Dafni, Rafi Brada, David Ruimi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A CT scanner comprises at least one cone beam x-ray source assembly mounted on a gantry frame, the gantry frame rotatable about a rotation axis, the x-ray source assembly operable to emit a cone beam at an orientation with respect to the rotation axis, and a controller operable to adjust an orientation of the cone beam during a rotation cycle of the gantry, wherein the controller adjusts the orientation to radiate a substantially same volume of interest over the rotation cycle.
Claims27
A CT scanner comprising:
- at least one cone beam x-ray source assembly mounted on a gantry frame, the gantry frame rotatable about a rotation axis, the x-ray source assembly operable to emit a cone beam at an orientation with respect to the rotation axis;
- a controller operable to translate the at least one source assembly relative to the gantry frame during a rotation cycle in a direction parallel to the rotation axis such that the combined rotation and translation motions form a non-circular continuous source trajectory and to adjust an orientation of the cone beam during a rotation cycle of the gantry while the source is translated relative to the frame, wherein the controller adjusts the orientation to radiate a substantially same volume of interest over the rotation cycle,
- wherein the controller is operable to alter the orientation of the cone beam in a cyclical manner as a function of an angle of rotation of the gantry,
- wherein the controller is operable to alter a position of a focal spot of the x-ray source assembly in synchronization with an adjustment to the orientation,
- wherein movement of the focal spot along the trajectory is cyclical and has a frequency equal to a frequency of rotation of the gantry or an integer multiple of a frequency of rotation of the gantry;
- and
- a detector array which receives x-rays generated by the at least one cone beam x-ray and produces data signal responsive thereto, said data signals being fed to the controller for the production of a CT image,
- wherein there is no relative motion in the direction of the axis between an object being scanned and the gantry during generation of said data signals.
5 more elements
A CT scanner comprising:
- at least one cone beam X ray source mounted on a gantry frame, the gantry frame rotatable about a rotation axis, the X ray source including a focal spot from which a cone beam is emitted;
- and
- a controller operable to move a position of the focal spot relative to the gantry frame during rotation of the gantry, wherein the movement relative to the gantry frame is a function of an angle of rotation of the gantry and has a frequency equal to a frequency of rotation of the gantry or an integer multiple of a frequency of rotation of the gantry.
A method for CT scanning, the method comprising:
- aligning a cone beam x-ray source to cover a volume of interest within a region enclosed by a gantry frame, wherein said volume of interest is generally centered about the gantry rotation axis;
- rotating the cone beam source around the volume of interest about a rotation axis;
- moving the cone beam x-ray source along a defined trajectory during said rotation, wherein the trajectory includes a component of translation in the direction of the axis of rotation and wherein the defined trajectory is cyclical and has a frequency equal to a frequency of rotation of the gantry or an integer multiple of a frequency of rotation of the gantry;
- and
- adjusting orientation of the cone beam x-ray source to consistently point toward the volume of interest over the defined trajectory.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.