Patent ID: 6977989

Claim:
A method for limiting radiation applied to an object during irradiation of the object by means of a radiation source, comprising: retrieving a control curve for controlling the radiation source corresponding to a selected radiographic procedure, the control curve relating a first operating parameter of the radiation source to a second operating parameter of the radiation source; retrieving a yield curve corresponding to characteristics of the radiation source, the yield curve relating the first parameter of the radiation source with dose as a function of the second parameter; for each of a plurality of points along the retrieved control curve, using the yield curve to determine a patient radiation dose rate; comparing the determined patient dose rate with a preselected maximum dose rate; altering the retrieved control curve such that the patient dose rate is at or below the preselected maximum dose rate to create a corrected control curve; using the corrected control curve to control the radiation source during the irradiation of the object such that the maximum dose rate is not exceeded during the irradiation.