Modern Diagnostic X-ray Sources 2020

Modern Diagnostic X-ray Sources is organized by SPIE - The International Society for Optics and Photonics and will be held on Feb 16, 2020 at Marriott Marquis Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America. This CME Conference has been approved for a maximum of 0.4 CEU.

Target Audience:
Medical physicists, researchers who intend to use vacuum electronic X-ray sources, X-ray physicists, radiologists, cardiologists and other surgeons with interest in X-ray diagnostics and interventional X-ray application, students of engineering, radiology and physics, X-ray system and X-ray tube developers, X-ray manufacturing staff, bodies, suppliers and personnel responsible for quality insurance in the field of X-ray equipment, members of standardization committees, managers responsible for costs of service. Undergraduate training in engineering or equivalent science is assumed.

Course Description:
During recent decades, in particular since the advent of computed tomography and the increasing sophistication of interventional X-ray systems, progress in the development of diagnostic X-ray sources has been tremendous. More than 100,000 diagnostic X-ray tubes are being installed or replaced every year. Tubes for detail application, non-destructive testing and material analytics add to this. As a sound basis for their work, specialists and academians working in the realm of X-rays like system developers, medical and X-ray physicists and clinicians may want to improve their background knowledge. Literature on the topic has grown recently, among others with several publications by the lecturer, see [1-13], including a textbook. In addition, this course will offer 1:1 interaction to improve understanding the physics of production of “clinical” X-rays for diagnostics. It will comprehensively treat functional principles of X-ray sources. Design aspects, special features, radiation protection, modern performance metric, manufacturing technology, and cost aspects will be discussed. Why is vacuum technology not at all regarded outdated? Will we find the X-ray LED, compact X-ray Lasers or flat panel sources in medical imaging soon? Why do hundreds of tube types populate the market? The lecture will cover system performance aspects related to the source, material boundary conditions, and manufacturing technology. The quest for affordable healthcare demands for trade-offs between value and cost, and objective comparison of tube types. Initial costs and costs of tube replacement will be discussed as well as means to extend tube life and to save natural resources. Recent technology and application will be treated. Last but not least, the lecture may spark fascination for these vacuum electronic light sources off the scientific mainstream.

Learning Objectives:
• see rare historic artifacts and pictures from various vendors and other sources
• explain the principles of the generation of braking radiation
• summarize milestones of innovation for X-ray tubes
• explain differences per field of application and trends
• know latest developments for spectral imaging and dark field imaging
• classify X-ray tubes by technology, explain pro’s and con’s
• predict the performance in an X-ray system using documented metrics
• select the right tube, based on improved metric
• describe key components like bearings, cathodes, vacuum frame, and housing
• explain methods for heat management
• treat unwanted side-effects like vacuum discharges, off-focal radiation and others, and propose remedies
• summarize the peculiarities of bremsstrahlung from the various types of X-ray tubes
• explain the benefits of reflection targets for imaging
• analyze X-ray tubes by their initial and service costs in an imaging system
• discuss failure patreto’s and means to extend tube life
• predict the impact of the X-ray tube design on the clinical work-flow
• name the measures for protection against hazards of ionizing radiation
• look out into future application of X-ray tubes, e.g. for phase contrast imaging, dark-field imaging, spectral imaging with various concepts
• touch dead-ends of development
• compare X-ray production from X-ray tubes and other means (brilliance, photon flux, costs)