This application claims priority to Italian Patent Application 102018000000868 filed Jan. 15, 2018, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

The present invention relates to a method for calibrating a collimator for the collimation of X-rays and an apparatus for X-ray analysis which comprises the collimator and can carry out the method automatically.

Apparatus for analysing X-rays for diagnostic purposes allow the user to adjust the field of X-rays generated so that the operating condition that the field adopts is the best suited to the shape and/or size and/or characteristics of the object to be analysed.

The object could be a part of a person's body.

The operating condition of the field is to be understood in the sense that a variation of the operating condition corresponds to a variation of the shape and/or at least one dimension and/or the orientation of the field.

The operating condition of the field depends on the operating configuration of a collimator of the apparatus and the position of a device which comprises the collimator itself and a source of X-rays. The collimator collimates the X-rays of the source so as to obtain the field of X-rays.

Such apparatus comprise an interface by means of which the end user, for example an X-ray technician, can select, for the purposes of the X-ray analysis, the operating condition of the field C. In the event that it is necessary to change at least one possibility of selection by the end user, in the sense that it is necessary to set a new selection function whereby the end user can select a new operating condition which was not previously selectable, the intervention of a technical service user is required.

The technical service user does not know a priori what the effect will be of varying the operating configuration of the collimator and/or varying the position of the device on the operating condition of the field.

Therefore, he has to proceed on a trial and error basis, which can take a long time. The object of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus for X-ray analysis, a calibrating method for calibrating a collimator belonging to the apparatus, and a programming method for programming an interface of the apparatus, which enable this drawback to be overcome.

This object is fully achieved by a method having features as disclosed herein and/or by an apparatus having features as disclosed herein.

There exists an apparatus for X-ray analysis described in patent document US 2002/122534. The apparatus described in patent document US 2002/122534 is configured to take into account the effect of varying the operating configuration of the collimator on the operating condition of the field by using mathematical formulas. Such mathematical formulas, which correlate the variation of the operating configuration of the collimator with the variation of the operating condition of the field, can vary in the event of a replacement of the collimator or a change in the distance between the source and collimator. The apparatus described in US 2002/122534 thus requires the technical service user to “manually” update the mathematical formulas on the basis of a priori knowledge of the geometry of the system, in the event that any component of the apparatus involved in defining the operating condition of the field is changed, since such a change makes it necessary to reset the aforesaid mathematical formulas. In general, any change, also in the type of components external to the collimator and/or in their reciprocal position, could influence the correlation between the variation of the operating configuration of the collimator and the variation of the operating condition of the field, requiring the user to quantify the entity of such variations to ensure a correct updating of the mathematical formulas.

Another apparatus for X-ray analysis is described in the patent document DE102012205261. The apparatus enables a series of X-ray images to be recorded in succession so as to obtain a compound image, but it does not enable the user to be helped either in the selection of the operating configuration of the collimator or in the operations of calibrating the apparatus in the event of changes regarding the collimator or the other components of the apparatus.

An apparatus for X-ray analysis and/or a method for calibrating a collimator belonging to the apparatus, in accordance with the present disclosure, make it possible to overcome the drawback due to the necessity of having to “manually” recalibrate the apparatus in the above-mentioned cases in which a change occurs in the type of collimator and/or in the type and/or reciprocal position of the other components of the apparatus.

The features of an apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure, of a calibration method in accordance with the present disclosure, and of a programming method in accordance with the present disclosure will be clarified by the following detailed description relating to respective embodiments of said apparatus, calibration method and programming method, offered by way of non-limiting example of the claimed concepts.

