Method for automatically setting an X-ray dosage for producing an X-ray tomographic image

US7039163B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Siemens Aktiengesellschaft · DE

Inventors

• Stefan Popescu · Erlangen, DE
• Christoph Süb · Erlangen, DE
• Heiko Wolf · Thalwil, CH
• Dietmar Hentschel · Vacha, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 11, 2003
• Grant date: May 2, 2006
• Expiry date: Jan 2, 2024

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61B6/583
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

For automatically controlling or adjusting the X-ray dose when scanning an examination subject in a CT apparatus, a series of reference measurements are initially made by obtaining CT images of respective phantoms having different attenuation. The tube current for each phantom that produces an image of the phantom having an acceptable noise level, and thus an acceptable image quality, is stored in a table. In a subsequent CT scan of an examination subject, the tube voltage is automatically adjusted when irradiating a region of the subject having attenuation comparable to the attenuation of one of the phantoms, so as to employ the tube current when irradiating the examination subject that produced the image of acceptable quality for the comparable phantom.