Dental x-ray diagnostics installation for producing panorama slice exposures of the jaw of a patient

US4823369A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Siemens Aktiengesellschaft · DE

Inventors

• Werner Guenther · Bensheim, DE
• Manfred Muether · Bensheim, DE
• Erich Heubeck · Bensheim, DE
• Michael Doebert · Lorsch, DE
• Leonhard Werner · Hemsbach, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 31, 1987
• Grant date: Apr 18, 1989
• Expiry date: Dec 31, 2007

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61B6/51
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A dental x-ray diagnostics installation has a rotary unit carrying an x-ray source and a radiation detector disposed behind a secondary diaphragm, the rotary unit rotating around the jaw of a patient to produce panorama tomograph exposures of the patient's jaw. The radiation detector generates electrical signals proportional to the incident radiation intensity. To simplify signal processing, the detector is formed of one or more semiconductor detectors having a scintillation layer which corresponds to the size of the opening in the secondary diaphragm. The voltages acquired by the detector are converted to digital form, and stored in an image memory. A computer calculates a total image from the signals supplied by the detector, and stored in the memory, during a complete exposure. The signals from the image memory are combined to generate a tomogram of a desired slice of the patient's jaw.