U.S. patent number 3,904,874 [Application Number 05/432,672] was granted by the patent office on 1975-09-09 for x-ray diagnosing device with means for changing x-ray tube voltage.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Siemens Aktiengesellschaft. Invention is credited to Heribert Amtmann, Manfred Haltrich.
United States Patent |
3,904,874 |
Amtmann , et al. |
September 9, 1975 |
X-ray diagnosing device with means for changing X-ray tube
voltage
Abstract
An X-ray diagnosing device has means for changing the X-ray tube
voltage during illumination or photographing. The invention is
particularly characterized by a device influencing the X-ray tube
voltage during illumination or photographing so as to superpose at
least one hard ray image and at least one soft ray image, whereby
the ratio for the hard ray image and the soft ray image can be set
manually.
Inventors: |
Amtmann; Heribert (Erlangen,
DT), Haltrich; Manfred (Erlangen, DT) |
Assignee: |
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
(Munich, DT)
|
Family
ID: |
5870343 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/432,672 |
Filed: |
January 11, 1974 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 30, 1973 [DT] |
|
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2304427 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
378/98.9;
378/175; 378/62; 378/111 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05G
1/32 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H05G
1/32 (20060101); H05G 1/00 (20060101); G01n
023/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;250/313,314,320,323,405,408,402 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Lieberman; Eli
Assistant Examiner: Anderson; B. C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Scher; V. Alexander
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An X-ray diagnosing device having an X-ray tube, a fluorescent
screen and a film camera for producing X-ray photographs, step-wise
voltage-varying means varying the voltage of said tube during
fluoroscopy or photography, means for superposing at least one soft
ray image and one hard ray image, and dosage setting means for
manually setting the dose for each of said images.
2. An X-ray diagnosing device according to claim 1, comprising an
X-ray image amplifier, a television camera connected with said
amplifier, a switch connected with said television camera and
operable in synchronism with the varying of said voltage, said
switch having two outlets, separate amplifiers connected with said
outlets and having adjustable amplifications, and a viewing device
connected with said outlets, said hard ray and soft ray images
being superposed for the viewer in said viewing device.
3. An X-ray diagnosing device according to claim 1, wherein the
voltage-varying means vary said voltage in the form of rectangular
impulses between a high value and a low value, and wherein the
setting means set the time ratio t1/t2.
4. An X-ray diagnosing device according to claim 1, wherein the
voltage-varying means comprise an automatic exposure timer, and
wherein the second-mentioned means adjust all voltage values in
said timer.
5. An X-ray diagnosing device according to claim 1, wherein the
voltage-varying means comprise a function generator varying said
voltage corresponding to a predetermined function.
6. An X-ray diagnosing device according to claim 1, wherein the
voltage-varying means comprise a triode connected in series with
said X-ray tube and regulating the X-ray tube voltage, said triode
having a control grid, and wherein the setting means are connected
with said grid.
Description
This invention relates to an X-ray diagnosing device with means for
changing X-ray tube voltage.
The X-ray tube voltage which is used for making X-ray illumination
or photographs depends upon the extent of the patient to be
illuminated and the image contrast desired by the user. In order to
make it possible to diagnostically evaluate upon an X-ray picture
of body parts or organs of great thickness, such as bones, or
covered body parts or organs, it is necessary to use high X-ray
tube voltages. However, the use of high X-ray tube voltages has the
drawback that the image contrast is small and that those body parts
and organs for the representation of which a lower X-ray tube
voltage would be adequate, are not reproduced in the best possible
way. On the other hand, if a lower X-ray tube voltage is used to
produce a good image contrast, then those parts or organs of the
human body which have a high thickness or which are covered are not
sufficiently penetrated by X-rays, and then are badly
reproduced.
Thus, in order to provide a clear picture of the part of the
patient penetrated by rays for the doctor, it is often necessary to
make several X-ray pictures with different X-ray tube voltages.
Particularly for thorax photographing, the making of a single
photograph is often insufficient, since, on the one hand, a low
X-ray tube voltage is desired to produce a good image contrast
while, on the other hand, high X-ray tube voltages are required for
penetration of all body parts.
An object of the present invention is to provide an X-ray
diagnosing device of the described type, which will make it
possible to produce X-ray pictures of substantially better quality
than those of prior art.
In the accomplishment of the objectives of the present invention,
it was found desirable to provide a device influencing X-ray tube
voltage during illumination or photographing so as to superpose at
least one hard ray image and at least one soft ray image, whereby
the dose for the hard ray image and the soft ray image can be set
manually.
The present invention makes it possible to produce pictures which
better comply with the requirement of a good image contrast and
thus good detail identification and sufficient ray penetration of
body parts or organs of great thicknesses than the known X-ray
diagnosing devices.
X-ray diagnosing devices are known, however, wherein the X-ray tube
voltage is not precisely constant during illumination or
photographing, but is variable. To such devices belong, for
example, X-ray diagnosing devices for two-pulse operation, wherein
there is a voltage at the X-ray tube which runs corresponding to
row arrangements of sinus half-waves. However, in these X-ray
diagnosing devices, the course of the X-ray tube voltage, during
illumination or photographing, cannot be infuenced manually, but is
fixed. The known X-ray diagnosing devices do not provide means
improving the picture quality, which is the object of the present
invention, since, in these devices, the X-ray tube voltage does not
flow to produce the best possible X-ray picture, but is determined
by the measurement of the X-ray diagnosing device or the network
voltage.
The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed
description when taken in connection with the accompanying
drawings, showing, by way of example only, preferred embodiments of
the inventive idea.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the course of the X-ray tube voltage in
an X-ray diagnosing device of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows the circuit of an X-ray diagnosing device of the
present invention.
FIG. 3 is a circuit showing details of the parts 8 and 13 of the
device of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 shows a circuit of a different embodiment of the X-ray
diagnosing device of the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows details of a switch connection of the device shown in
FIG. 4.
FIGS. 6 and 7 are diagrams illustrating different courses of the
X-ray tube voltage during illumination or photographing.
FIG. 1 shows an example of the course of X-ray tube voltage
according to the present invention during illumination or during
the making of an X-ray picture. The X-ray tube voltage then swings
in rectangular impulses between a maximum value U1 and a minimum
value U2 during illumination or photographing time period t. The
voltage U1 is so selected that all body t. and organs are properly
penetrated by X-rays. The voltage U2 is so selected that those body
parts and organs which have a small thickness are represented with
good contrast. The relationship of the time t1, during which the
voltage U1 is present at the X-ray tube, to the time t2, during
which the voltage U2 is at the X-ray tube, is so selected that the
best possible image quality is produced. Investigations have shown
that this image quality is considerably better than when
illumination or photography takes place with the voltage U1, or
with the voltage U2, or with an intermediate constant voltage. The
ratio of the time periods t1 and t2 is determined empirically.
The X-ray diagnosing device of FIG. 2 is based on the voltage
course of FIG. 1. The device includes an X-ray tube 1 extending
rays through a patient 2, an X-ray image amplifier 3, a film camera
4, a remote vision camera 5 and a viewing device 6. The image
amplifier-remote vision chain 3 to 6 is also connected with a known
remote vision central device for producing synchronous signals,
which is not illustrated.
A switch 7 is located between the remote vision camera 5 and the
viewing device 6. It is periodically actuated by a synchronizing
device 8 and transmits the outgoing signal of the remote vision
camera 5 to the viewing device 6, either through the actuating
member 9 and the amplifier 10, or through the actuating member 11
and the amplifier 12. The X-ray apparatus 13 feeding the x-ray tube
1 is also connected to the synchronizing device 8. It is provided
with an adjusting member 25 for the time ratio t1/t2 and the amount
of the voltages U1 and U2.
As already stated, the feeding of the X-ray tube 1 takes place with
a voltage according to FIG. 1. In synchronism with the course of
this voltage, the synchronizing device 8 produces the switching of
the switch 7. Thus, for example, the switch 7 has a position shown
in full lines during the time periods t1 and a position shown by
broken lines during the time periods t 2. Due to this arrangement,
a signal embodying the hard ray image is transmitted through the
members 11 and 12, and a signal embodying a soft ray image is
transmitted through members 9 and 10. Thus, the two pictures appear
alternately upon the viewing device 6. Their intensity is
adjustable by adjusting members 9 and 11. Thus, the adjusting
members provide the best possible adjustment of the picture in the
viewing device 6. In addition, for the best setting, the ratio of
the X-ray tube voltage according to FIG. 1 and the voltages U1 and
U2 in the X-ray apparatus 13 are also adjustable. The impulse
sequence frequency of the X-ray tube voltage, and thus of the
pictures upon the viewing device 6, are so selected that the hard
ray image and the soft ray image are superposed for the viewer upon
the viewing device 6. The viewer has the possibility of freely
adjusting the X-ray diagnosing device between a complete
suppression of one of these two images and its equal transmission.
When the best possible setting has been found, X-ray photographing
by the film camera 4 can be provided at the viewing device 6.
As shown in FIG. 3, the X-ray apparatus 13 contains a step
transformer 30, which can be connected by a main switch 31 to the
a.c. network. The transformer 30 has two contacts 32 and 33, which
can be connected by a relay contact 34 to the primary winding of a
high voltage transformer 35. The secondary winding of the
transformer 35 feeds through a high voltage rectifier 36 the X-ray
tube 1. The relay contact 34 is actuated by a relay 37, which is
periodically excited by an astable multivibrator 38. The frequency
of the outgoing voltage of the astable multivibrator is adjustable
by adjusting means 25.
The relay 37 switches on periodically a high inlet voltage and a
low inlet voltage at the high voltage transformer 35 corresponding
to FIG. 1. A relay 39 is excited in synchronism with the relay 37
by the outgoing voltage of the astable multivibrator 38, and it
actuates the switch 7.
FIG. 4 shows that the X-ray tube 1 is supplied by an a.c. high
voltage transformer 14 which has two groups of secondary windings
and two high voltage rectifiers 15 and 16, which are connected in
series. Two triodes 17 and 18 extend in series with the X-ray tube
1, their steering lattices being connected with a steering device
19. An impulse producer 21 causes, through the steering lattices of
the triodes 17 and 18, a periodic change of the resistances of
these triodes in such manner that voltages U1 and U2 lie
alternately at the X-ray tube 1. The key ratio of the impulse giver
21 is adjustable by a handle 22.
As shown in FIG. 5, the actuating device 19 includes a relay 40,
with a switch over contact 41 which selectively can connect one of
the two voltage sources 42 and 43 to conduits 44 leading to the
steering lattices of the triodes 17 and 18. The periodic excitation
of the relay 40 takes place through the impulse giver 21, which is
constructed as an astable multivibrator. The voltages of the
voltage sources 42 and 43 are different, so that the resistances of
the triodes 17 and 18 are large or small, depending upon the
location of the switching contact 41. The amount of these
resistances, and thus the amount of the corresponding X-ray tube
voltage, can be adjusted by changing the voltages of the voltage
sources 41 and 43.
However, within the scope of the present invention, it is not
necessary that the course of voltage at the X-ray tube should
correspond to FIG. 1, namely, that a high and a low voltage value
alternately follow each other, corresponding to a rectangularly
shaped impulse course. As shown in FIG. 6, the X-ray tube voltage
can also rise according to a predetermined function during the
making of a photograph from zero to a maximum value. According to
FIG. 6, the end of an X-ray photographing takes place at the time
instant t3. The function producing the rise of the X-ray tube
voltage is so selected that the X-ray photographing consists of at
least two individual images, namely, a soft ray image and a hard
ray image. The voltage U3 corresponds to the soft ray image, and
the voltage U4 corresponds to the hard ray image.
FIG. 7 shows that the X-ray tube voltage can rise step-like during
the taking of a photograph, and also after the termination of
photographing at the time point t4, whereby the voltages U5, U6 and
U7 are so selected that there are three superposed images -- one
hard ray image, one soft ray image, and one image of middle
quality. In this case, it is also important that X-ray tube
voltages for at least two partial images which are superposed,
should be adjustable manually. The amount of the voltages U5 to U7,
and the time duration during which these voltages are applied to
the X-ray tube, are so fixed that the desired picture quality is
produced.
The course of the X-ray tube voltage, according to FIG. 6 or FIG.
7, for making an X-ray photograph, can be produced while using an
X-ray apparatus of FIG. 4, in that the impulse generator 21 and the
actuating device 19 are replaced by a function generator which
operates the resistances of the triodes 17 and 18 according to the
desired course of the X-ray tube voltage during the making of a
photograph.
In the case of the step-like course of FIG. 7, the voltage change
can also be carried out by an illumination automat, in which the
desired dose is set for each voltage. Then, the illumination
automat produces, at the time t5, the changing of the voltage U5 to
the voltage U6, and at the time t6, the changing of the voltage U6
to the voltage U7. The photographing is automatically finished at
the time t4.
In accordance with the present invention, the change of the X-ray
tube voltage for the making of an X-ray picture can also take place
by adjusting means in the primary circuit of the high voltage
transformer. In this connection, the preliminary contact time of
the photographing relay can be measured corresponding to the
desired switching time period from a low X-ray tube voltage to a
high X-ray tube voltage. The preliminary contact time is then that
time period during which the primary winding of the high voltage
transformer is connected by a series resistance to the network.
* * * * *