Methods and systems for x-ray tube conditioning

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11712216-B2
Application number	US-202117449428-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2021
Priority date	Aug 16, 2019
Publication date	Aug 1, 2023
Grant date	Aug 1, 2023

Abstract

Various methods and systems are provided for x-ray tube conditioning for a computed tomography imaging method. In one embodiment, x-ray may be generated in an x-ray tube of a radiation source prior to a diagnostic scan to warmup the x-ray tube to a desired temperature for the diagnostic scan. The power delivered to the x-ray tube during warmup may be adjusted in a closed loop system based on an initial temperature of the x-ray tube and the desired temperature for the diagnostic scan. During tube warmup, by placing a blocking plate coupled to a collimator blade in a path of the x-ray beam, the x-ray beam may be blocked from exiting a collimator.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An imaging system, comprising:
an x-ray collimator including a first collimator blade and a second collimator blade separated by an adjustable gap, the adjustable gap forming an aperture of the collimator;
a first blocking plate coupled to the first collimator blade, the first blocking plate configured to be positioned in a path of an x-ray beam to block the x-ray beam from exiting the collimator during x-ray generation to condition an x-ray tube prior to a diagnostic scan; and
a second blocking plate coupled to a base of the second collimator blade, the second blocking plate not extending beyond an edge of the base of the second collimator blade.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first blocking plate is coupled to a base of the first collimator blade, the first blocking plate extending beyond a first edge of the base of the first collimator blade, wherein the first edge is distal from the second collimator blade.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the first blocking plate is in face sharing contact with the base of the first collimator blade, the base of the first collimator blade proximal to an output port of the collimator.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the first blocking plate is not contacting the base of the first collimator blade, the first blocking plate placed between the first collimator blade and the output port of the collimator.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein a width of the first blocking plate is higher than a width of the output port of the collimator, and wherein a length of the first blocking plate is equal to a length of the first collimator blade.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a controller storing instructions in non-transitory memory that, when executed, cause the controller to: during x-ray generation to condition an x-ray source, and adjust the adjustable gap between the first collimator blade and a second collimator blade to be as small as possible.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the controller includes further instructions to: during x-ray generation to condition an x-ray source, and positioning the first blocking plate over the output port of the collimator to completely block the aperture and the output port of the collimator.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the controller includes further instructions to: during the conditioning of the x-ray source, increasing a temperature of the x-ray source to a higher temperature immediately prior to the imaging scan.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the controller includes further instructions to: adjust a power delivered to the x-ray source during the conditioning of the x-ray source, via a closed loop control of a temperature of the x-ray source, based on the higher temperature immediately prior to the imaging scan and a predicted decrease in temperature in a time frame between an end of a warmup and a start of the imaging scan.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the controller includes further instructions to: estimate the higher temperature immediately prior to the imaging scan, wherein the predicted decrease in temperature is via a thermal model of the x-ray source.

11. The system of claim 6 , wherein the controller includes further instructions to: upon completion of the conditioning of the x-ray source, move the first blocking plate and the second blocking plate out of the path of the x-ray beam by moving the first collimator blade during the imaging scan.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein either or both of the first and second blocking plates are made of lead or tungsten and configured to absorb any direct or scattered x-rays that contact the first and/or second blocking plates.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein either or both of the first and second collimator blades are made of lead or tungsten and configured to absorb any direct or scattered x-rays that contact the first and/or second collimator blades.

14. An imaging system, comprising:
a x-ray collimator including a first collimator blade and a second collimator blade separated by an aperture;
a first blocking plate coupled to a base of the first collimator blade, the first blocking plate extending beyond a first edge of the base of the first collimator blade away from the second collimator blade; and
a second blocking plate coupled to a base of the second collimator blade, the second blocking plate not extending beyond an edge of the base of the second collimator blade.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the first blocking plate and the second blocking plate are movable along with the first collimator blade and the second collimator blade with an adjustable gap between the first collimator blade and the second collimator blade forming the aperture.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein a width of the first blocking plate is larger than a width of an output port of the collimator, and wherein a length of the first blocking plate is equal to a length of the first collimator blade.

17. The system of claim 16 , further comprising a controller storing instructions in non-transitory memory that, when executed, cause the controller to:
during conditioning of an x-ray source prior to an imaging scan, positioning the first blocking plate in a path of an x-ray beam to block the x-ray beam from exiting a collimator;
generating an x-ray beam from the x-ray source to condition the x-ray source; and
adjusting an amount of energy to be delivered to the x-ray source during the conditioning of the x-ray source based on an initial temperature of the x-ray source, a desired temperature of the x-ray source for the imaging scan, and a predicted decrease in temperature in a time frame between an end of the conditioning and a start of the imaging scan.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the first blocking plate is positioned over the output port of the collimator blocking the aperture.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein adjusting the amount of energy includes adjusting a power delivered to the x-ray source based on a continually monitored temperature of the x-ray source.

Assignees

• Ge Prec Healthcare Llc

Inventors

• Thibault Jean-Baptiste
• Hsieh Jiang
• Strong Gary

Classifications

• A61B6/54 Primary

  Control of apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis · CPC title

• A61B6/06 Primary

  Diaphragms · CPC title

• A61B6/032

  Transmission computed tomography [CT] · CPC title

• A61B6/4035

  the source being combined with a filter or grating · CPC title

• A61B6/488

  involving pre-scan acquisition · CPC title