Patent ID: 7010082

Claim:
A method for making for test measurements in an x-ray computed tomography apparatus, comprising the steps of: providing a combined phantom having a specified characteristic associated therewith, said phantom consisting of a plurality of individual phantoms, each individual phantom forming a segment of the combined phantom, and affixing the combined phantom to a platform that is movable with respect to a data acquisition unit of a computed tomography apparatus; automatically controlling movement of said platform with a control unit loaded with a computer program comprising a plurality of different routines for obtaining x-ray absorption distributions, and in said control unit executing said computer program, automatically recognizing said specified characteristic of said phantom and selecting one of said routines dependent on said specified characteristic; in said one of said routines, automatically moving said platform with said combined phantom affixed thereto into a predetermined first position with respect to said data acquisition unit and obtaining a first x-ray absorption distribution in a first segment of said combined phantom with said data acquisition unit; in said one of said routines, automatically moving said platform with said combined phantom affixed thereto from said first position into a second predetermined position and obtaining a second x-ray absorption distribution of a different segment of said combined phantom with said data acquisition unit.