Patent ID: 7885384

Claim:
A method ( 300 ) to predict a failure of an imaging system ( 105 ) that includes an x-ray tube assembly ( 115 ) as a radiation source ( 110 ), the method ( 300 ) comprising: acquiring an age of the x-ray tube assembly ( 115 ); calculating a baseline probability of a survivability of the tube assembly ( 115 ) for a remaining time period independent of a usage of the tube assembly ( 115 ); acquiring measurement of at least one operating parameter of the x-ray tube assembly ( 115 ); applying a filter to the acquired measurement, the filter configured to remove outlying measurement data representing a deviation from a trend model and modify the measured at least one operating parameter to remove the outlying measurement data; acquiring usage data of the imaging system including a type and quantity of images acquired over time; predicting a usage of the x-ray tube assembly based on the acquired usage data; and automatically changing the probability of a survivability of the x-ray tube assembly ( 115 ) in response to the modified measurement of the at least one operating parameter of the x-ray tube assembly ( 115 ) and the predicted usage.