The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 14, 2010
Filed:
Jul. 25, 2005
Per Harald Bergfjord, Middlesex, GB;
Per Harald Bergfjord, Middlesex, GB;
Elekta AB (publ), Stockholm, SE;
Abstract
An investigative X-ray apparatus comprises a source of X-rays emitting a cone beam centred on a beam axis, a collimator to limit the extent of the beam, and a two-dimensional detector, the apparatus being mounted on a support which is rotatable about a rotation axis, the collimator having a first state in which the collimated beam is directed towards the rotation axis and the second state in which the collimated beam is offset from the rotation axis, the two-dimensional detector being movable accordingly, the beam axis being offset from the rotation axis by a lesser amount than the collimated beam in the second state. The X-ray source is no longer directed towards the isocentre as would normally be the case; the X-ray source is not orthogonal to the collimators. This is advantageous in that the entire field of the X-ray tube can be utilised. As a result, a lesser field is required of the X-ray tube and the choice of tube designs and capacities can be widened so as to optimise the performance of the X-ray tube in other aspects.