Dental x-ray diagnostics installation for producing panorama slice exposures of the jaw of a patient

Claim 1

A dental x-ray diagnostics installation for producing panorama tomograms of the jaw of a patient which simulate tomograms obtained by moving x-ray sensitive film behind and past a diaphragm opening at a selected film moving speed, comprising: radiator meand for generating x-radiation; detector means for converting x-radiation incident thereon into corresponding light radiation; a secondary diaphragm diaphragm disposed in front of said detector means having a diaphragm opening which limits dais x-radiation incident on said detector means; means for supporting said radiator means and said detector means, with said secondary diaphragm, on opposite sides of said jaw and for rotating said radiator means, said secondary diaphragm and said detector means such that x-radiation attenuated by said jaw passes through said secondary diaphragm and is incident on said detector means; CCD sensor means on which said light radiation is incident for converting said light radiation into electrical signals, said CCD sensor means having an image zone with a plurality of lines in each of which charge is generated corresponding to a portion of said light radiation incident thereon, and having a storage zone to which said charge from said lines is transferred, said liens in combination receiving all of said light radiation to generate a complete charge image corresponding to said x-radiation incident on said detector means; means for reading out said storage zone; and clock means connected to said CCD sensor means for generating clock pulses at a clock frequency to control the speed of transfer of charge from said lines to said storage zone to store said complete charge image therein, and connected to said means for reading out to control the speed of reading out of said charge image from said storage zone, said clock means generating clock pulses at a clock frequency to transfer charge from said lines to said storage zone and to read out said charge image from said storage zone at a speed selected to simulate said moving film speed.

Claim 16

A method for operating an x-ray diagnostics installation to produce panorama tomograms of the jaw of a patient corresponding to panorama tomograms obtained by moving x-ray sensitive film behind and past a secondary diaphragm opening, said method comprising the steps of: irradiating the jaw of said patient with x-radiation; rotating an x-radiation source and an x-radiation detector, with a secondary diaphragm disposed in front of said detector, around the jaw of said patient such that x-radiation attenuated by said jaw and passing through said secondary diaphragm is incident on said detector; converting the x-radiation incident on said detector into corresponding light radiation; directing all of said light radiation onto an image zone of at least one CCD sensor to convert said light radiation into electrical signals, said image zone having a plurality of lines in which charge is generated by said light radiation and having a storage zone, said lines in combination generating a complete charge image corresponding to said x-radiation incident on said detector; transferring said charge from said lines of said image zone to said storage zone at a first clock frequency selected such that the speed of transfer of charge from said lines to said storage zone simulates said speed of said moving x-ray film; and reading out said charge image from said storage zone at a second clock frequency greater than or equal to said first clock frequency.

Claim 17

A method for operating an x-ray diagnostics installation to produce panorama tomograms of the jaw of a patient corresponding to panorama tomograms obtained by moving x-ray sensitive film behind and past a secondary diaphragm opening, said method comprising the steps of: irradiating the jaw of said patient with x-radiation; rotating an x-radiation source and an x-radiation detector, with a secondary diaphragm disposed in front of said detector, around the jaw of said patient such that x-radiation attenuated by said jaw and passing through said secondary diaphragm is incident on said detector; converting the x-radiation incident on said detector into corresponding light radiation; directing all of said light radiation onto an image zone of at least one CCD sensor to convert said light radiation into electrical signals, said image zone having a plurality of lines in which charge is generated by said light radiation and having a storage zone, said lines in combination generating a complete charge image corresponding to said x-radiation incident on said detector; transferring said charge from said lines of said image zone to said storage zone at a first clock frequency selected such that the speed of transfer of charge from said lines to said storage zone simulates said speed of said moving x-ray film; and reading out said charge image from said storage zone at a second clock frequency greater than or equal to said first clock frequency.