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Updated: Apr 22, 2026

Fluorescence Lifetime Macro Imager for Biomedical Applications
Published on: April 7, 2023
Estimation of the life expectancy of a filament of the conventional X-ray unit: a technical case study
Atsushi Fukuda1, Kosuke Matsubara, Tosiaki Miyati
1Department of Radiology, Shiga Medical Center for Children, 5-7-30, Moriyama, Moriyama, Shiga, 524-0022, Japan, ntoki@blue.plala.or.jp.
Abstract:
Conventional diagnostic X-ray units are used for radiographic imaging in several countries. As a part of our quality control procedures, we recorded entrance surface air kerma, tube voltage, and half-value layer measurements for four diagnostic X-ray tubes over a 108 week course. The entrance surface air kerma for one of the X-ray tubes suddenly declined in the 107th week, and the filament burned out 1 week later. We retrospectively reviewed these data and observed that the entrance surface air kerma of the failing tube had increased as a function of elapsed time. The slopes for these four X-ray units were calculated, and we observed that the slope of the failing tube was higher than that of the other three tubes (P < 0.001). Monitoring of the fluctuation in the entrance surface air kerma would be valuable for predicting the residual life expectancy of X-ray tubes.
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