kth.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Rotating anode x-ray tube technology at the limit
KTH, School of Engineering Sciences (SCI), Physics, Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Medical Imaging.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6243-681X
KTH, School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM), Materials Science and Engineering, Process.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6339-4612
KTH, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), Electrical Engineering, Space and Plasma Physics.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9632-8104
KTH, School of Engineering Sciences (SCI), Physics, Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Medical Imaging.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3039-9791
2025 (English)In: Medical Imaging 2025: Physics of Medical Imaging, SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng , 2025, article id 1340502Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

The input power density of rotating anode X-ray sources and hence the spatial image resolution of the X-ray system must be fundamentally restricted due to the erosion of anode material. The efficacy of computed tomography would benefit from much smaller X-ray focal spots with equal or increased photon output. A switch to carbon fiber reinforced rotor members that may enable higher rotor velocity has been suggested, or increasing the tube voltage for deeper implantation of electronic input power. Alternatively, we are proposing a new fast moving tungsten microparticle target that avoids focal track erosion, offers high mass heat capacity from increased temperature swing and reduced material residence time in the electron beam. This novel technology concept promises to eliminate the bottleneck and allow for an order of magnitude improvement of the focal spot input power density. However, before investing in implementation the ultimate limitations of current technology should be better known than currently. To gain knowledge, we improved the modeling of electron transport and target erosion of rotary anodes. We infer a criticality parameter that enables predicting the risk of anode erosion for a wide range of technique factors and focal spot sizes based on a few reference life cycle tests. In conclusion, despite the deficits of assumptions made in the classic Müller-Oosterkamp theory that ignores tube voltage, the derived specifications of commercial X-ray tubes are justified. Limited by anode erosion, the gain of permitted power density with increasing tube voltage is smaller than predicted by some alternative volume heating models. We further discovered the necessity to introduce a correction for calculations of the applied patient X-ray dose and pointed to the related error in the standards for radiation safety.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng , 2025. article id 1340502
Keywords [en]
Medical imaging, rotating anode, target erosion, thermomechanical stress, tungsten microparticles, tungsten rhenium, X-ray dose, X-ray tube
National Category
Mechanical Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-363751DOI: 10.1117/12.3044261Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105004574574OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-363751DiVA, id: diva2:1959846
Conference
Medical Imaging 2025: Physics of Medical Imaging, San Diego, United States of America, Feb 17 2025 - Feb 21 2025
Note

 Part of ISBN 9781510685888

QC 20250528

Available from: 2025-05-21 Created: 2025-05-21 Last updated: 2025-05-28Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Behling, RolfHulme-Smith, ChristopherTolias, PanagiotisDanielsson, Mats

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Behling, RolfHulme-Smith, ChristopherTolias, PanagiotisDanielsson, Mats
By organisation
Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Medical ImagingProcessSpace and Plasma Physics
Mechanical Engineering

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 10 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf