the simulation operation can be carried out in the following way : at least one image is acquired of a unit for simulating the patient &# 39 ; s bones and soft tissue only , and at least one image is acquired of this unit and of the device for simulating the patient &# 39 ; s opacified blood vessels , and using image subtraction , an image of the simulation device is obtained . this simulation device is optimized so as to be sensitive to the slightest error of the x - ray apparatus and to allow its detection . in a three - dimensional angiography system with c - shaped arms , it is possible to acquire images of the blood vessels while the acquisition system , i . e ., the x - ray tube and the means for receiving the x - ray beam , rotates around the patient . a three - dimensional image of the vessels is then reconstructed from the series of two - dimensional digital images produced . in order to perform this reconstruction , a model of the geometry of the image acquisition is necessary . this model is estimated in a calibration phase , and it is subsequently determined whether the acquisition geometry is the same during the acquisition of the images of the patient as it was during the calibration . if the acquisition geometry is not exactly the same , i . e ., if the performance of the acquisition system is degraded , the quality of the reconstructed three - dimensional images will also be degraded : the vessels will less rich in contrast and certain vessels of small diameter will not be properly reconstructed or will appear blurry . measuring the performance level of the acquisition system for the reconstruction of three - dimensional images is important , both during the production of the x - ray apparatus and while it is in service , but it constitutes a relatively difficult operation . in fact , a poor image quality observed on a patient is not invariably due to the acquisition system . many other parameters can be involved , such as a movement of the patient , the propagation of the opacifying liquid that is injected into the patient &# 39 ; s bloodstream , etc . an error in the repositioning of the acquisition system is not easy to detect . an element of the display device can be different for an acquisition of an image of the patient and for the calibration that was done previously , even though the quality of the two - dimensional images derived from the acquisition of images of the patient may be perfectly acceptable . in order to control the performance level of a three - dimensional angiography system , it is necessary to simulate a rotating acquisition of images of the patient with a specific simulation device , also called a “ phantom .” the images of this phantom must be representative of the patient &# 39 ; s blood vessels . as seen in fig1 and 2 , the simulation device has a generally spherical shape with a top pole 1 and a bottom pole 2 , centered on an axis 3 represented in a broken line , and comprises semicircular elements 4 extending from the top pole 1 to the bottom pole 2 . a supporting piece 5 is provided at the top pole 1 and a supporting piece 6 is provided at the bottom pole 2 . the semicircular elements 4 are attached at each of their ends to the supporting piece 5 and the supporting piece 6 . the semi - circular elements 4 are made of a material with low x - ray absorption , for example plexiglas , polycarbonate , or another material of equiva - lent density . the simulation device comprises six semicircular elements 4 distributed uniformly in the circumferential direction . however , as a variant , it is possible to provide a different number , for example four or eight . the semicircular elements 4 are flat and have on their outer edge 7 a tiered area 8 comprising steps 9 through 13 whose distance from the axis 3 differs from one step to another . a central shaft 14 coaxial to the axis 3 connects the supporting pieces 5 and 6 of the top 1 and bottom 2 poles . the central shaft 14 ensures the mechanical strength of the entire simulation device and is made of a material with average x - ray absorption , for example aluminum . as a variant , it is possible to provide a central shaft 14 made of another material , for example ceramic or titanium , but with the respective drawbacks in terms of weight and cost . the semicircular elements 4 are pierced with a plurality of holes 15 and 16 of small diameter , passing through the thickness of the semicircular elements 4 and disposed perpendicular to a plane passing through the axis 3 near the outer edge 7 at the level of the steps 9 through 13 . wires labelled 17 through 21 are passed through the holes 16 , the holes 15 remaining free of wires . the wires 17 through 21 are each disposed on one complete spire of the simulation device so as to form an angle on the order of 15 ° with a radial plane . for example , the wire 17 that passes through the holes 16 of the step 9 of the various semicircular elements 4 , passes through the hole 16 a provided at the bottom of the step 9 of the semicircular element 4 visible on the right of fig1 then through the hole 16 b in the middle of the step 9 of the next semicircular element 4 , then through the hole 16 c of the next semicircular element 4 before passing through the hole 16 b in the middle of the step 9 of the semicircular element 4 visible on the left of fig1 . of course , the concepts of right and left , and top and bottom , are relative and refer to fig1 since the simulation device can be used in any position in space . the other wires 18 through 21 are disposed in similar fashion through the holes 16 of the other steps 10 through 13 . the wires 17 through 21 are made of copper , a material with high x - ray absorption , but could also be made of another metal or alloy , as long as their diameter is adapted in accordance with the x - ray absorption of the material . the diameters of the wires are uniformly graduated , between 0 . 2 and 0 . 6 mm . the ends of the wires 17 through 21 are passed through a hole 16 and fixed with a dot of adhesive . extending from the central shaft 14 is a cylindrical element 22 disposed on an axis 23 that is oblique relative to the axis 3 . the cylindrical element 22 is connected to the central shaft 14 by a portion 24 of small diameter . the cylindrical element 22 is also made of a material with high x - ray absorption and makes it possible to simulate an aneurysm , which often has a neck of reduced diameter , simulated by the portion 24 . the central shaft 14 also supports a ringed element 25 disposed obliquely relative to the central shaft 14 and provided with a succession of portions 26 of large diameter and portions 27 of small diameter , in order to make it possible to verify whether said portions 26 and 27 are displayed satisfactorily . as seen more particularly in fig2 the semicircular elements 4 are uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction so that the wires 17 through 21 form a hexagon approaching a spherical shape , which is particularly well adapted to the case where the field of vision of a camera of the x - ray apparatus is circular . it would also be possible to provide a simulation device with eight semi - circular elements defining an octagon , or even four or five semicircular elements defining a square or a pentagon . thus , the central shaft 14 , with a large diameter relative to that of the wires 17 through 21 and an average x - ray absorption makes it possible to simulate the vessels of large diameter such as the carotid arteries and to provide a density reference for quantitative measurements from the reconstructed three - dimensional image . the large diameter of the central shaft 14 makes its image less sensitive to degradations . thus , a stable reference is provided . the various wires 17 through 21 with a small diameter and a high x - ray absorption coefficient make it possible to simulate vessels of very small size , for example the small cerebral arteries , in order to estimate the resolution of the three - dimensional image reconstruction . the wires have various diameters , from 0 . 2 to 0 . 6 mm , in 0 . 1 mm increments . the distance between each wire and the central shaft 14 is determined so that the wires are as close as possible to the contour of the image in the two - dimensional projections , in order to obtain a satisfactory sensitivity to repositioning errors in the rotation of the camera of the x - ray apparatus , in the case of a camera that rotates around its axis . the three - dimensional orientation of each wire is such that the angle between the axis of the wire and a plane that is radial relative to the axis 3 is small , less than or equal to 15 °, but not null . in fact , if the wires were parallel to such a radial plane , the image would be extremely sensitive to the degradation of the quality , which is an advantage . the axis 3 is normal to the plane defined by the various positions of the axis of the x - ray beam , which is rotatable . but in certain incidences of two - dimensional projection , there would be a risk of superpositions of the horizontal wires , which would not make it possible to properly detect the errors . thus , as seen in fig1 certain wires 17 through 21 can cross at points , but are not superposed . likewise , as seen in fig2 the wires 17 through 21 , are disposed so as not to superpose one another . of course , the same disposition of the wires could be obtained with a different support structure , for example with a polystyrene ball replacing the semicircular elements 4 . during its utilization , the simulation device is positioned on a table of the x - ray apparatus on which the patient is normally disposed , in such a way that the central rod 14 is approximately parallel to the axis of rotation of the image acquisition system . the utilization of wires of different diameters and crossing one another facilitates the automation of the calibration process by counting the number of visible wires , the quality of the image being proportional to the number of visible wires . fig3 shows a two - dimensional side view of a reconstructed three - dimensional image . it may be seen that all of the elements of the simulation device present in fig1 are visible in fig3 . the wires of larger diameter appear more clearly than the wires of smaller diameter . the same is true of fig4 which is a two - dimensional top view obtained from the same three - dimensional image used for fig3 . it is noted that the wire 18 of smaller diameter appears in this figure , which is a gauge of the good quality of the image reconstruction . fig5 is a two - dimensional partial cross - section of the reconstructed three - dimensional image , in which appear portions of three adjacent wires , the image quality being satisfactory . conversely , in fig6 which is a cross - section identical to that of fig5 the image quality is not satisfactory in that the wires seem to divide in two . this degradation of the quality of the image is due to an error in the positioning of the arm supporting the x - ray tube and of the means for receiving and displaying incident x - rays , such as the scintillator , camera , ccd , etc . the repositioning error , in this case several tenths of a degree , is clearly shown . fig7 shows several bright spots corresponding to wires sectioned transverse to their axes . the image of these wires is approximately circular , which is satisfactory . conversely , in fig8 the image of the same wires tends to spread out , forming a segment of a straight line , which reveals a repositioning error in the rotation of the camera of the image acquisition system , this error being on the order of several tenths of a degree . as a result , a slight degradation in the performance of the acquisition system produces a visible degradation in the three - dimensional reconstruction of the simulation device . this simulation device can therefore be used to estimate the quality of the three - dimensional image reconstruction of a system . a synthetic view of the quality of the reconstruction can be obtained from the three - dimensional image using a two - dimensional view corresponding to fig4 such that the display is produced parallel to the axis of the central shaft . certain errors of the acquisition system produce specific errors in the three - dimensional image . the simulation device can therefore be used to characterize image quality problems . the simulation device can be used for a visual inspection by an operator or for an automatic process allowing a quantitative evaluation of the quality of the three - dimensional reconstruction . this process can be carried out by detecting the central shaft using a series of steps for eroding and enlarging the image , by determining the density of the central shaft , by determining a series of elementary densities obtained by predetermined linear coefficients , by applying a threshold to each elementary density , by creating a two - dimensional image in an orientation parallel to the central shaft , by detecting and counting the wires visible in the image , the final quality criterion being the sum of all the visible wires . various modifications in structure and / or function and / or steps can be made by one skilled in the art to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention .
device for simulating a patient &# 39 ; s body for the testing of a vascular x - ray apparatus of the type comprising a means for emitting an x - ray beam , and a means for receiving the x - ray beam after it has passed through a part of the patient &# 39 ; s body , the x - ray beam being centered on an axis . the device comprises at least one metal wire disposed at least partially transversely relative .