Patent ID: 8331529
Filing Date: 2012-12-11
Classification: A61B,H01J,H05G

Abstract:
1. A medical imaging system, comprising: an x-ray source having a focal spot that emits radiation that traverses an examination region, wherein a position of the focal spot along a longitudinal direction is a function of a temperature of one or more x-ray source components; a detector that detects the radiation; a collimator disposed between the x-ray source and the examination region that collimates the radiation along the longitudinal direction; a focal spot position estimator that dynamically computes an estimated position of the focal spot along the longitudinal direction based on the temperature of one or more x-ray source components, wherein the estimated focal spot position is a function of the temperature and a coefficient of thermal expansion of the one or more x-ray source components; and a collimator positioner configured to position the collimator along the longitudinal direction based on the estimated focal spot position prior to performing a scan.