X-ray detection
AssigneeKoninklijke Phiips N.V.
InventorRolf Karl Otto Behling
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Rotating anode X-ray tubes degrade over time because of the action of the electron beam altering the surface of the focal spot area of a rotating anode. This causes a degradation in a resulting object image, when the source is used in an imaging application. An X-ray tube housing assembly is discussed which allows the correction of such effects. In particular, an additional beam of the X-radiation, which is not used for imaging, may be used to correct such effects.
Claims18
An X-ray tube housing assembly operable to provide a signal, the X-ray tube housing assembly comprising:
- an X-ray tube generating X-radiation from a focal spot;
- a reference filter;
- and
- a reference detector;
- and
- a controller;
- wherein the X-radiation comprises a main portion, and a reference portion, wherein the main portion is distinct from the reference portion;
- wherein the main portion and the reference portion are between a minimum (αmin,MAIN, (αmin,REF) and a maximum (αmax,MAIN, αmax,REF) take-off angle, being angles of elevation from a vertex at the focal spot (104), subtended by a base plane;
- wherein the minimum take-off angles of the reference portion and the main portion (αmin,REF, αmin,MAIN) are equal to each other, and the maximum take-off angles of the reference portion and the main portion are equal to each other (αmax,REF, αmax,MAIN);
- wherein the reference filter is configured to filter the reference portion before detection of the reference portion by the reference detector;
- wherein the reference detector is configured to detect the reference portion to provide a reference signal;
- and
- wherein the controller is configured to calculate a signal, based on the reference signal.
A method for determining a signal representing changes in the X-ray emission characteristic of an X-ray tube housing assembly, comprising the steps of:
- a) generating X-radiation from the focal spot of an X-ray tube,
- wherein the X-radiation comprises a main portion, and a reference portion, wherein the main portion is distinct from the reference portion;
- wherein the main portion and the reference portion are between a minimum (αmin,MAIN, αmin,REF) and a maximum (αmax,MAIN, αmax,REF) take-off angle, being angles of elevation from a vertex at the focal spot, subtended by a base plane;
- wherein the X-radiation comprises a main portion, and a reference portion, wherein the minimum take-off angles of the reference portion and main portion (αmin,REF, αmin,MAIN) are equal to each other, and the maximum take-off angles of the reference portion and main portion are equal to each other (αmax,REF, αmax,MAIN);
- b) filtering the reference portion using a reference filter;
- c) detecting the reference portion;
- d) outputting a reference signal representing a characteristic of the reference portion;
- e) calculating a signal;
- and
- f) outputting the signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.