Patent ID: 11950944
Assignee: THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  H | IPC A  H

Claim 14:
15. A mini c-arm x-ray imaging system comprising:
a carbon nanotube based micro-focus x-ray source array comprising a plurality of spatially distributed micro-focus x-ray focal spots and a digital area x-ray detector mounted on a mini c-arm;
a collimation assembly connected to an exit window of the micro-focus x-ray source array configured to substantially collimate the x-ray radiation generated from each of the plurality of spatially distributed micro-focus x-ray focal spots to a surface of the digital area x-ray detector; and
an electronic switching device comprising:
a high voltage power supply;
a current source;
a switch configured to sequentially connect the current source to a plurality of field emission cathodes of the mini c-arm x-ray imaging system with a pre-set current value, one at a time, to produce one or more projection images for tomosynthesis reconstruction without any mechanical motion of either the micro-focus x-ray source array or the digital area x-ray detector; and
a trigger comprising one or more processors and/or circuitry configured to synchronize detector data collection with x-ray exposure from the plurality of spatially distributed micro-focus x-ray focal spots;

wherein the mini c-arm x-ray imaging system is configured to operate in a three-dimensional tomosynthesis imaging mode, a fluoroscopy mode, and a stereotactic mode.