Patent · US Expired

Portable, digital X-ray apparatus for producing, storing, and displaying electronic radioscopic images

US5608774A · kind A · utility

43Cited by
3References
24Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 23, 1995
Grant dateMar 4, 1997
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 23, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L67/12
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A portable, self-contained, electronic radioscopic imaging system uses a pulsed X-ray source, a remote X-ray sensor, and a self-contained, display and controller unit to produce, store, and/or display digital radioscopic images of an object under investigation. The pulsed X-ray source transmits a burst of narrow pulses of X-rays at the object being investigated at a low repetition rate. The X-ray sensor utilizes an X-ray scintillating screen in combination with either an integrating CCD camera, or an active matrix of thin film transistors and sample-and-hold photodiodes, to produce an integrated signal representative of the accumulated number of flashes of radiation (X-ray pulses that pass through the object) that are sensed in a given pixel area of the scintillating screen. The self-contained display and controller unit utilizes digital signal processing within an enhanced portable computer, including a flat solid state display panel and associated drive circuitry, in order to display the full dynamic range and resolution of the sensor. A modem allows the digitized image to be sent to a remote location where the exact same image can be recreated for analysis by off-site experts.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.