X-ray tube

William Coolidge explains medical imaging and X-rays.

An X-ray tube is a vacuum tube that converts electrical input power into X-rays.^[1] The availability of this controllable source of X-rays created the field of radiography, the imaging of partly opaque objects with penetrating radiation. In contrast to other sources of ionizing radiation, X-rays are only produced as long as the X-ray tube is energized. X-ray tubes are also used in CT scanners, airport luggage scanners, X-ray crystallography, material and structure analysis, and for industrial inspection.

Increasing demand for high-performance computed tomography (CT) scanning and angiography systems has driven development of very high-performance medical X-ray tubes.

^ Behling, Rolf (2015). Modern Diagnostic X-Ray Sources, Technology, Manufacturing, Reliability. Boca Raton, FL, USA: Taylor and Francis, CRC Press. ISBN 9781482241327.

[1] Behling, Rolf (2015). Modern Diagnostic X-Ray Sources, Technology, Manufacturing, Reliability. Boca Raton, FL, USA: Taylor and Francis, CRC Press. ISBN 9781482241327.

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