Patent ID: 7003073

Claim:
An X-ray diagnostic device for mammography examinations, comprising: an X-ray tube, a subject table to support a female breast thereon and a compression plate attached to an arm, said compression plate being displaceable along said arm between said X-ray tube and said subject table and thus compressing the breast on the subject table to a compressed position; a stand having a vertical longitudinal axis; a first displacement arrangement, a second displacement arrangement and a third displacement arrangement; a lifting element displaceable in said stand along said longitudinal axis by said first displacement arrangement; a mount attached to said lifting element, said mount having a horizontal shaft to which said arm is attached; said mount and said arm being laterally displaceable relative to said lifting element by said second displacement arrangement and said arm being rotatable around said shaft by said third displacement arrangement; a first position sensor which detects, and emits an output signal corresponding to, a height of said lifting element along said longitudinal axis; a second position sensor which detects, and emits an output signal corresponding to, a lateral position of said mount relative to said lifting element; a synchro system which detects, and emits an output signal corresponding to, a rotational angle of said arm relative to said shaft; a distance meter disposed at said compression plate that detects, and emits an output signal corresponding to, a distance of said compression plate from said subject table; and a control unit, supplied with the respective outputs from said first and second position sensors, said synchro system and said distance meter, for controlling said first, second and third displacement arrangements dependent on said outputs, to rotate said arm around an arbitrarily selectable spatial axis along said longitudinal axis that is substantially aligned with a center axis of the breast in the compressed position.