Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Karlheinz Pauli

Thomas Flohr

Herbert Bruder

Helmut Reichenberger

Manfred Pfeiler

Helmut Winkelmann

Friedrich Distler

Heinrich Wallschläger

Juergen Simon

A gating device to delimit an x-ray beam, has a device housing, first and second absorber elements mounted in the device housing opposite each other, and an adjustment device for moving the absorber elements relative to each other to set a spacing therebetween forming a slit for passage of an x-ray beam therethrough. Each absorber element has an edge shaped to give the slit a slit width that varies in a longitudinal direction of the slit that increases outwardly from a central position toward respectively opposite ends of the slit. Each slit edge has a middle region producing a uniform width of the slit and further regions respectively disposed on opposite sides of the middle region that produce a linearly, longitudinally increasing slit width. The adjustment device produces a parallelogram-like relative movement between the absorber elements.

Computed tomography apparatus and beam diaphragm therefor having absorber elements shaped to produce a non-uniform beam passage opening

An imaging tomography apparatus, in particular an x-ray computed tomography apparatus, has two acquisition systems capable of rotating around a common rotation axis. Each of the acquisition systems has a radiator as well as a detector. The maximum measurement fields scanned by the two acquisition systems given rotation around the rotation axis are of different sizes, or can be adjusted to different sizes. In particular, the lengths of both detectors measured in the azimuthal direction&#x2014;are of different sizes. The tomography apparatus can be fashioned to scan the entire body cross-section of an examination subject or of a patient with conventional temporal resolution, and to scan detail region, such as a heart region, with an increased temporal resolution or accelerated data acquisition rate in comparison to a device with only one acquisition system.

Imaging tomography apparatus with at least two radiator-detector combinations

A support device for a diagnostic radiography system has a support plate with a portion for supporting a first region of an examination subject and a support element for a second region of the subject. The support element is connected to the support plate such that it can be adjusted by an adjusting mechanism that is arranged on the side of the support element that faces away from the portion of the support plate that is provided for accepting the first region of the examination subject.

Patient support for a diagnostic radiography system

A computed tomography has a frame carrying an x-ray source and an x-ray detector which are rotated by the frame around an examination subject to obtain a series of exposures from different angular positions. The x-ray source emits a fan beam from a focus and includes a focus deflecting unit for adjusting the position of the focus in the event that, due to mechanical wear or play, the frame is caused to rotate around a point which differs from the intended rotational center. The intended rotational center is a point through which a straight line extending between the focus and the center of the radiation detector always proceeds for every angular position. Two sensors are disposed on the rotating center frame in addition to the x-ray source and the radiation detector, these two sensors respectively defining two measuring points and supplying output signals corresponding to the respective positions of these measuring points relative to a reference point on a stationary part of the apparatus. The output signals are supplied to correction electronics, which also receives an output signal from a focus control unit, and effects a deflection of the focus by means of the focus deflecting unit as needed to maintain rotation of the frame around the intended rotational center.

Fan beam computed tomography apparatus

The utilization of the apparatus fundamentally lies in the medical sector. An essentially planar shock wave is generated with the assistance of a shock wave tube via a magnetic dynamic effect. This shock wave is focussed by an acoustic convergent lens, whereby the calculus to be pulverized is placed at the focal point (F) of the convergent lens. In order to couple the shock wave to the patient, the space that the shock wave traverses is filled with a coupling agent, for example water. The shock wave tube, the convergent lens and a fine adjustment for the displacement of the convergent lens relative to the shock wave tube are attached to a mounting stand so as to be pivotable in all directions. This disintegration facility comprising a shock wave tube has high operating reliability with respect to high voltage, requires low maintenance, and has only negligible imaging or focussing errors resulting from the shock wave producing membrane and the convergent lens.

Apparatus for the contact-free disintegration of calculi

In an exemplary embodiment, a radiation measuring arrangement has two x-ray tubes of different radiation energy which generate radiation beams penetrating the radiography subject, and also has a radiation receiver which determines the radiation intensity behind the subject. The radiography subject is irradiated from different directions. A computer determines, for every image point, the attenuation coefficient for every radiation energy and determines therefrom the mean ordinal number and the density. The radiation receiver is designed as a stationary detector ring. For scanning only the x-ray tubes are rotated about the radiography subject. They are maintained at such a distance from one another that no detector element is simultaneously impinged upon by both radiation beams.

Growing community of inventors

Neunkirchen, Germany

Karlheinz Pauli