Patent ID: 6956929
Filing Date: 2005-10-18
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A method for controlling the tube current in an X-ray tube for producing an image by computed tomography, comprising the steps of: obtaining a single topogram of an examination subject on an examination table; evaluating said topogram and determining therefrom a maximum attenuation in a projection direction of a CT image of the examination subject to be subsequently obtained, as a function of a position of the table; storing said maximum attenuation as a data vector; determining an orthogonal extent of the examination subject from said topogram using a threshold value; determining an orthogonal attenuation of the examination subject as a product of said orthogonal extent and a stored organ-specific linear attenuation coefficient; and subsequently obtaining a topogram by irradiating the examination subject with X-rays from an X-ray tube supplied with a tube current, and modulating said tube current dependent on said orthogonal attenuation.