Single-Actuator Blade Collimator for X-ray Beam Shaping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing X-ray beam limiting devices for radiography are costly and require multiple actuators to achieve desired shapes and dimensions, making them inefficient for acquiring both 2D and 3D images, especially when focusing on small, non-coaxial regions of interest, which often necessitate asymmetrical patient positioning and increased X-ray doses.
Innovation Solution
A beam-limiting unit with a single actuator controlling multiple blades and a punched plate, allowing for both vertical and horizontal collimation, reducing the number of electronically moved components and enabling the production of windows with desired widths and shapes, including cylindrical designs that are less bulky but more complex to design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple actuators are used to control beam limiting blades for achieving desired shapes and dimensions, then the beam limiting capability is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple blade control functions into a single actuator system. The first actuator simultaneously controls the first and second blades for horizontal collimation, while the second actuator simultaneously controls the third and fourth blades for vertical collimation. This merging of control functions reduces the total number of actuators from four to two, lowering device complexity while maintaining full beam limiting capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Each actuator in the patent is designed with multi-functionality to control multiple blades. The first actuator serves dual purposes by controlling both horizontal collimation blades, and the second actuator controls both vertical collimation blades. This universal design allows a single actuator to perform multiple control functions, reducing overall system complexity.
2Manufacturing precision
If two collimators are used perpendicularly disposed to achieve quadratic window shaping, then the beam shaping precision is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the functions of two separate perpendicular collimators into a single integrated collimator assembly. Instead of using two independent collimators that would require two actuators each, the invention uses one collimator with four blades controlled by two actuators, achieving the same quadratic window shaping capability with reduced complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The single collimator assembly is segmented into four blades that can be independently positioned along two perpendicular axes. The first two blades (for horizontal collimation) and the last two blades (for vertical collimation) can be controlled separately through the actuator system, allowing precise quadratic window shaping while maintaining a unified structural design.
3Device complexity
If the beam limiting device uses a single actuator controlling multiple blades, then the device complexity is reduced, but the control precision may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is segmented into independent actuator-blade pairings. The first actuator controls the first and second blades independently along the horizontal axis, while the second actuator controls the third and fourth blades independently along the vertical axis. This segmentation allows precise control of each blade's position while using a reduced number of actuators.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs dynamic control mechanisms where the actuators can adjust blade positions in real-time during the radiographic acquisition process. The actuators are capable of moving blades along their respective axes to dynamically adapt the beam shape and size, maintaining precision through active adjustment rather than fixed positioning.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of limiting a X-ray beam, for example in connection with an extraoral radiographic apparatus, includes moving at least two blades of a blade limiting device through one actuator only, so as to produce a X-ray beam having the desired shape, wherein the actuator moves the at least two blades at the same time, in a direct way and in the same direction, even in the event of inversion of the direction of movement of the blades.