SU-F-E-01: Pitfalls: Reliability and Performance of Diagnostic X-Sources.

PURPOSE: Performance and reliability of medical X-ray tubes for imaging are crucial from an ethical, clinical and economic perspective. This lecture will deliver insight into the aspects to consider during the decision making process to invest in X-ray imaging equipment. Outdated metric still hampers realistic product comparison. It is time to change this and to comply with latest standards, which consider current technology. Failure modes and ways to avoid down-time of the equipment shall be discussed. In view of the increasing number of interventional procedures and the hazards associated with ionizing radiation, toxic contrast agents, and the combination thereof, the aspect of system reliability is of paramount importance.

METHODS: A comprehensive picture of trends for different modalities (CT, angiography, general radiology) has been drawn and led to the development of novel X-ray tube technology.

RESULTS: Recent X-ray tubes feature enhanced reliability and unprecedented performance. Relevant metrics for product comparison still have to be implemented in practice.

CONCLUSION: The speed of scientific and industrial development of new diagnostic and therapeutic X-ray sources remains tremendous. Still, users suffer from gaps between desire and reality in day-to-day diagnostic routine. X-ray sources are still limiting cutting-edge medical procedures. Side-effects of wear and tear, limitations of the clinical work flow, costs, the characteristics of the X-ray spectrum and others topics need to be further addressed. New applications and modalities, like detection-based color-resolved X-ray and phase-contrast / dark-field imaging will impact the course of new developments of X-ray sources. The author is employee of Royal Philips.