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The past and present of CT tube and X-ray tube production!
- 2020-10-10-

As the signal source of CT tube equipment, the tube is one of the most valuable central components in CT equipment, and its performance directly affects the image quality and service life of CT. Since 1896, German CHFMuller created the world's first After the X-ray tube with practical application significance, people's improvement in tube technology has never stopped.


Prelude


X-ray discovery


To explore the history of the development of the tube, we have to start with the discovery of X-rays by Roentgen: in 1895, the German Roentgen discovered X-rays while experimenting with cathode ray tubes.



Roentgen laboratory



Roentgen used cathode ray tube


Excited by this serendipitous discovery, Roentgen put his other research work aside and concentrated on the properties of X-rays. After several weeks of frantic work, he discovered the following facts:


(1)X-ray tube productionIn addition to causing barium cyanoplatinite to fluoresce, it can also cause many other chemicals to fluoresce.


(2) X-rays can penetrate many substances that ordinary light cannot penetrate; especially, they can directly penetrate muscles but cannot penetrate bones. Roentgen's hand is placed between the cathode ray tube and the fluorescent screen, and it can be seen on the fluorescent screen. See his hand bones.


(3) X-rays run in a straight line, and unlike charged particles, X-rays do not shift due to the action of a magnetic field.



Roentgen and the world's first X-ray photo


Immediately after the announcement of Roentgen's discovery of X-rays, almost all European laboratories used X-ray tubes to conduct experiments and take pictures.


A few weeks later, X-ray tube assemblies have begun to be used by medical scientists. Doctors use X-rays to accurately visualize the human skeleton, a new discovery in physics that is rapidly being used in medicine.


In order to commemorate Roentgen's dedication to physics, later generations also called X-rays Roentgen rays, and used the name of Roentgen as the unit of X-ray irradiation. In 1901, Roentgen won the first Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of X-rays. .


past life


The creation of the tube


With the full assistance of Professor Walter, the German CHFMuller created the world's first practical X-ray tube in early February 1896, which is a very simple tube with no clear focus.



The world's first X-ray tube without focus


When the filament is energized, the X-rays are emitted over the entire bottom, and for this reason, the received image is very blurred. In the same year, CHFMuller created the first production of X-ray tubes with focus for Professors Walter and Voller. This tube was A concave mirror placed on the cathode focused the X-rays at a single point, a landmark creation that greatly increased the clarity of the photo and shortened the exposure time.



The first arena with a clear focus


In this improved tube, X-rays are emitted from a special platinum sheet placed obliquely symmetrical to the cathode, and the cathode looks like a convex mirror. When the current is applied to the two ends of the tube, the cathode emits electrons and hits the platinum sheet. , that is, the anode we often say today, so X-rays are generated. The bulb of this shape has a clearer image than before because it has an important small focus.


Classic Tubes in History:



In 1901, this bulb tube anode target was made of platinum, which was symmetrical with the electron flow from the cathode at a 45-degree angle.



In 1907, this was a bulb with automatic regeneration, and the cathode was enhanced.



This is a bulb with a rotating anode



Tube with a water cooling system



It has a bulb installed by automatic evaporation of water, which is an ion bulb with great effect after radiotherapy.


In the early bulbs, there was always residual gas in the glass tube, and it was difficult to start the X-ray bulb when it was heated by electricity, and because of the low degree of vacuum, the bulb had a short working life and a short life. At the beginning of the 19th century, the General Electronics Research Institute of the United States The physicist William Curlitz designed and created a vacuum tube, which uses a filament to energize a flow of electrons to generate X-rays. The vacuum tube is more accurate, stable and stronger than the previous tube, and can get better image effects. .



William Collitz


After a long-term theoretical experiment, in 1913, his tube was introduced into the medical field and applied in clinical practice. At present, the X-ray tube used in radiology is basically based on the tube designed by William Colitz. above improved.


this life


Current status of CT tube development


The advancement of science and technology has promoted the development of modern medical care. As an imaging diagnostic equipment widely used in clinical examinations, CT has gone from conventional photography in the past to brain scanning and cardiovascular angiography, and has gone through the process from single layer to spiral multi-layer. develop.

The importance of the tube as an X-ray source is incredible. The multi-slice spiral CT scans continuously and discontinuously, and the X-ray dose is large, so the CT tube is required to have a higher heat capacity. The improvement of the heat capacity requires the tube information, and the structure of the rotating anode is constantly Improvement and progress. Small (micro) focus, large capacity, high frequency and high voltage and its stability, high-speed rotating anode (low noise), filament emission divergence, etc. have become the development direction of the tube.


At present, the standard configuration of the multi-layer spiral CT tube has reached 6-7MHU, and the heat dissipation rate has been close to 1MHU\/min due to the improvement of materials and processes.

In recent years, a spiral groove hollow anode handle with liquid metal as a lubricant has been created, which effectively prolongs the life of the bulb and ensures stable and clear image quality for continuous scanning. to the CT machine


this life


international market


Siemens Healthineers


Siemens announced the application of Straton's high-energy straton technology to manufacture an electron beam control tube called "no heat capacity". The electron beam control metal tube is different from the traditional X-ray tube. The anode and cathode are fixed on the rotating shaft together and are directly immersed. In insulating oil, when the bulb is working, it is no longer the anode that rotates, but the entire bulb is rotating under the drive of the motor. Since the reverse side of the anode is directly against the wall of the tube, it is easy to dissipate heat. Take the heat away. The function of the deflection coil is to make the electron beam reach the proper position of the anode and bombard the target surface to generate X-rays. Adding a signal to the deflection coil can achieve the effect of changing the focus position, so as to obtain the purpose of flying focus .



Straton electron beam control tube


The Straton Electron Beam Tube is the first X-ray tube capable of supporting a gantry rotation speed of 0.37 seconds per revolution, enabling clear visualization of the fine tissue of the heart without motion artifacts, even at high heart rates. Siemens Applying it to the world's first SomatomSensation 64 CT machine based on Speed40 imaging technology (Speed40) 64 layers, the CT system only needs 0.37 seconds to make one revolution, and a new record of CT speed has been created.


GE


In 2013, GE introduced the first liquid bearing tube called Performix Plus, and in 2015 introduced the new Performix 40 Plus liquid bearing tube for the Revolution EVO CT. While providing high-quality images, it not only reduces the noise during rotation, but more importantly, prolongs the service life of the tube.


Philips


Philips acquired X-ray and CT components company Dunlee in 2001, and in June 2017, closed its generator, tube and component (GTC) plant in Aurora, Illinois, to transfer operations to Philips in The existing factory in Hamburg, Germany, mainly provides services for the X-ray product OEM market.


On February 20, 2018, Philips officially announced the sale of its manufacturing facility in Aurora, Illinois to Chronos Imaging, an American medical device and medical service solution company whose main business includes third-party computed tomography (CT) replacement tubes and Related Assets. As part of the deal, Chronos Imaging will continue to manufacture 3rd party CT replacement tubes for Philips and will continue to discontinue sales under the Dunlee brand.


Varian


In May 2016, Varian announced the spin-off of its imaging components business, and the new company, named Varex, mainly manufactures imaging components such as X-ray tubes, flat panel detectors and high-voltage connectors, as well as imaging software and specialized accelerators. Varex also extended its partnership with Toshiba. The multi-year collaborative relationship between medical systems companies has re-established a three-year pricing agreement for CT tubes, and CT tube sales are estimated to be between $345 million and $385 million.


this life

Domestic market

In comparison, although domestic imaging equipment has developed rapidly in the past ten years, especially CT manufacturers have grown from only one "Neusoft" five years ago to more than ten blowout development now. Most of the domestic CT manufacturers who use bulbs choose the products of a few companies such as Varian and Dangli that replace bulbs. In many cases, the price and quality of bulbs are controlled by others. How to deal with domestic CT center components? Transformation and key technology breakthroughs have become urgent problems to be overcome.


Although ambitious private enterprises have repeatedly challenged this field, the results are not satisfactory: in 1998, after the failure of the first test of the electronic tube in Hangzhou, Hangzhou Insett and Guangzhou Aikesi successively entered the research path of localization of the tube, but The results are also not ideal. In 2005, Zhuhai Ruineng (RCAN), a private enterprise, once again carried the banner of localization of CT tubes, concentrated on integrating domestic CT tube resources, and focused on the independent R&D and manufacturing of localization of CT tubes.


During the tenth 25" period, the national level began to pay attention to the research and development support of CT core components. CLP Group No. 12 and Kunshan Guoli have successively undertaken the national ten 25 "major science and technology special projects" and "industrial strong foundation projects". The world has entered the field of CT tube research and development; after entering the "Ten 35", the national level has once again increased the support for the research and development of core components, especially the China-made 2025 and greater, and the CT tube has been placed as a central component in high-performance medical devices. In the primary position of development, under the encouragement of such a serious favorable policy, CT machine manufacturers such as Shanghai United Imaging, Neusoft Medical, Mingfeng Medical also took the opportunity, and the localization of CT tubes has shown a high degree of enthusiasm in China.


At present, Zhuhai Ruineng Medical is the first high-tech enterprise in China that has completed the localization of CT tubes. Since the first registration and listing of domestic CT tubes with independent cultural property rights in 2013, Zhuhai Ruineng has completed CT tubes below 5.2M. The localization of tube series products, and hundreds of domestic CT tubes have been clinically used in hospitals. Zhuhai Ruineng has completed the development process of 50 years abroad in ten years, and completed the development of no domestic CT tubes in my country. history, and finished exporting to South America and Northern Europe.

Zhuhai Ruineng Development History


In 2005, Zhuhai Ruineng Vacuum Electronics Co., Ltd. was established

In 2006, it was the first to put forward the plan of "rescue, maintenance, life extension and value-added", and pioneered the development of tube tubes.

In 2013, the first domestic company to complete the registration of 3.5M metal ceramic tube and 4.0M glass CT tube, invented a historic breakthrough in the production of CT tube and X-ray tube in China

First export to South America and Northern Europe in 2014

In 2015, it was the first to be included in the national Torch Program; it was approved by the national scientific and technological achievements

Introducing the first round of strategic investors

In 2016, Ruineng CT tube was released for the first time, marking the Chinese brand CT tube to declare war on the monopoly oligopoly, opening the era of China's high-end CT tube! Establish a new R&D center and manufacturing industrialization base

In 2017, Ruineng and VAREX, DUNLEE jointly appeared on the international stage of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)


Editor's note: Looking at the international CT market, GPSC has been an oligopoly for 70 years, taking the road of independent research and development, differentiated competition and cooperation; while my country's CT market has developed a blowout at the beginning, taking the imitation and innovation integration. , the road of homogeneous competition. However, the key technology of CT core components is the big "life gate", and it is a big hidden danger that the core technology is controlled by others. No matter how large the scope of a domestic CT machine company, the market value is high, if the center Components rely heavily on foreign countries, and the "life gate" of the supply chain is controlled by others. It is like building a house on someone else's wall. No matter how big or beautiful it is, it may not be able to withstand the wind and rain, and even destroy it. China wants to become a CT A big manufacturing country has a long way to go