Modern Diagnostic X-Ray Sources

Now fully updated, the second edition of Modern Diagnostic X-Ray Sources: Technology, Manufacturing, Reliability gives an up-to-date summary of X-ray source technology and design for applications in modern diagnostic medical imaging. It lays a sound groundwork for education and advanced training in the physics of X-ray production, X-ray interactions with matter, and imaging modalities and assesses their prospects. The book begins with a comprehensive and easy-to-read historical overview of X-ray tube and generator development, including key achievements leading up to the current technological and economic state of the field.

The book covers the physics of X-ray generation, including the process of constructing X-ray source devices. The stand-alone chapters can be read in order or in selections. They take you inside diagnostic X-ray tubes, illustrating their design, functions, metrics for validation, and interfaces. The detailed descriptions enable objective comparison and benchmarking.

This detailed presentation of X-ray tube creation and functions enables you to understand how to optimize tube efficiency, particularly with consideration for economics and environmental care. It also simplifies faultfinding. Along with covering the past and current state of the field, the book assesses the future regarding developing new X-ray sources that can enhance performance and yield greater benefits to the scientific community and to the public.

After heading international R&D, marketing and advanced development for X-ray sources with Philips, and working in the X-ray industry for more than four decades, Rolf Behling retired in 2020 and is now the owner of the consulting firm XtraininX, Germany. He holds numerous patents and is continuously publishing, consulting and training.

Rolf Behling holds a diploma in physics from the University of Hamburg, Germany. During more than 30 years in the medical industry he has held many positions, including department head of tube technology development, global project coordination manager, global innovation manager, head of marketing and field support for X-ray tubes, department head for X-ray tube development, project manager, and process physicist. The first spiral-groove-bearing X-ray tube was developed under his leadership. He currently heads the Philips Group for Advanced Development of X-ray Tubes and X-ray Generators at Philips HealthTech in Hamburg. He is a part-time lecturer at the University of Hamburg and has written numerous patents and publications in vacuum technology and medical imaging.