Control scheme for quickly starting X-ray tube

Abstract

A control scheme for quickly starting a portable X-ray generator used in the livestock industry is proposed in this paper. A portable X-ray generator used to take X-ray images of animals such as horses, sheep and dogs should be capable of starting quickly because it is difficult for veterinarians to take X-ray images of animals at their timing. In order to develop a scheme for starting the X-ray tube quickly, it is necessary to analysis the X-ray tube. However, such an analysis has not been discussed until now. First, the states of an X-ray tube are classified into the temperaturelimited state and the space-charge-limited state. Furthermore, existence of "mixed state" that comprises both is newly proposed in this paper. From these analyses, a novel scheme for quickly starting an X-ray generator is proposed; this scheme is considered with the characteristics of the X-ray tube. The proposed X-ray system that is capable of starting quickly is evaluated on the basis of experimental results. © 2011 The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.