The recent ICE webinar presentation “How Can You Decrease X-ray Tube Arcing? What You Should Know About Its Causes and Prevention” was sponsored by Dunlee and approved for 1.0 ARRT Category A CE credit by AHRA (LEC11572, Expiration Date: 02/16/2023).
Rolf Behling, founder and owner of XtraininX, provided an in-depth analysis of one of CT scanning’s most persistent yet unpredictable problems. X-ray tube arcing can cause image artifacts and system damage. Understanding its causes and how to prevent them can help you increase uptime and get the most out of your CT scanners.
In this webinar, attendees were able to learn about how arcing (high-voltage discharges in X-ray tubes) affects a CT scanner. Behling discussed the most important components and technologies impacting arcing and reviewed the physics and material science behind this phenomenon. He also helped attendees understand how to prevent arcing and mitigate the effects of an arcing incident.
In addition, attendees gained understanding on how to assess equipment and technology in terms of how they impact arcing.
Attendees gained additional insights via a question-and-answer session immediately following the informative presentation. One attendee asked if a new tube should be returned if it is arcing.
Behling suggested giving the new tube a chance.
“A new tube is always a little bit more unstable than a than a new tube which has been an operation for years. One of the reasons is that the gas pressure inside, believe it or not, is better when the tube is old than it is when it is new,” he explained before going more in depth.
Another question was, “Why do people call arcing tubes gassy? How much gas is in them?”
Behling explained that tubes do not have much gas unless it is a defective tube that has a vacuum leakage. He said tubes may seem gassy because the arc rate is high and the old terminology was to say that it seemed to be related to gas. He provided more information and answered additional questions before signing off.
Attendees provided feedback regarding the webinar via a survey that included the question, “Overall, how satisfied were you with today’s webinar?”
“Very knowledgeable about the subject,” Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist M. Misouria said.
“Very satisfied,” Advanced Imaging System Engineer K. Walker said.
For more information, visit ICEwebinars.live.
