CT tubeThis CT center component can be described as the lifeblood of the 100 billion imaging market.

Its pros and cons can not only determine the performance of the CT machine at a certain level, but it is also regarded as the key to reducing the gap between the high-end product category and imported brands.

However, due to the complex technology, high process requirements, and the need for customization of most consumer equipment, this component has not yet been fully localized. For a long time, most domestic imaging manufacturers have It does not have the ability to self-research and produce core components, and most of the core components of domestic high-end products are imported products.

From the perspective of the history of tube technology, the traditionalCT tubeBall bearings are usually used. However, the emergence of liquid metal bearing technology in the 1990s gradually replaced ball bearings and became the mainstream of high-end CT applications in the first 20 years of the 21st century.

Compared with traditional ball bearings, the use of liquid metal bearings can bring at least four advantages:

(1) Greatly improve the heat dissipation rate. That is, under the target structure of the same physical heat capacity, the equivalent heat capacity can be greatly improved;

(2) The gantry rotation centripetal force that liquid metal sliding bearings can accept can reach 30-40g, which can support faster gantry rotation and imaging rate, and has great advantages in cardiac scanning;

(3) Since the bearing core does not directly contact the bearing shell when the bearing is working, the wear is small, and its life is at least doubled compared to the life of the ball bearing;

(4) The liquid metal sliding bearing has no contact, which is a sound and silent operation.

With the continuous maturity of liquid metal bearing technology in recent years and the decline in the cost of mass production, the application of liquid metal bearings is no longer limited to high-end CT, and has begun to move towards the application of mid-end models. Its application scenarios, and market space become more common.

However, liquid metal bearingsCT tubeIn the production and manufacture of key components, the entire process involves more than 30 processes. The key technical problems encountered include design, materials, processing, welding, vacuum, surface treatment, fine assembly and other aspects. It is particularly difficult to break through the key technologies.