Disclosed is a ceramic shielding apparatus including at least one shield made of a ceramic material and provided inside or outside an X-ray tube to shield radiation; and supports configured to support the shield. According to such a configuration, disadvantages of conventional shielding materials such as lead can be addressed, so that a shield apparatus having excellent shielding properties while being harmless to the human body can be provided.

An x-ray tube includes an electron emitter to emit an electron beam; and a multilayer anode including a first anode layer facing the electron beam and a second anode layer facing away from the electron beam. The first anode layer includes a first anode material to generate a braking radiation via the electron beam and the second anode layer includes a second anode material to generate a further x-ray radiation via the braking radiation. The further x-ray radiation is relatively more monochromatic than the braking radiation and wherein the first anode layer and the second anode layer adjoin in a planar manner.

Presented systems and methods facilitate efficient and effective generation and delivery of radiation. A radiation generation system can comprise: a particle beam gun, a high energy dissipation anode target (HEDAT); and a liquid anode control component. In some embodiments, the particle beam gun generates an electron beam. The HEDAT includes a solid anode portion (HEDAT-SAP) and a liquid anode portion (HEDAT-LAP) that are configured to receive the electron beam, absorb energy from the electron beam, generate a radiation beam, and dissipate heat. The radiation beam can include photons that can have radiation characteristics (e.g., X-ray wavelength, ionizing capability, etc.). The liquid anode control component can control a liquid anode flow to the HEDAT. The HEDAT-SAP and HEDAT-LAP can cooperatively operate in radiation generation and their configuration can be selected based upon contribution of respective HEDAT-SAP and the HEDAT-LAP characteristics to radiation generation.

According to one embodiment, an analytical X-ray tube includes a vacuum enclosure with an output window to transmit X-rays, an anode target provided in the vacuum enclosure and opposing the output window, an anode support that supports the anode target. The anode support includes a distal end portion an outer diameter of which is smaller than an outer diameter of the anode target, and a rear side portion on a rear side of the distal end portion, an outer diameter of which is greater than the outer diameter of the anode target, and an outer surface of the rear portion is coated with a coating layer of a same material as that of the anode target.

Electrons can rebound from an x-ray tube target, causing electrical-charge build-up on an inside of the x-ray tube. The charge build-up can increase voltage gradients inside of the x-ray tube, resulting in arcing failure of the x-ray tube. Also, the electrical charge can build unevenly on internal walls of the x-ray tube, causing an undesirable shift of the electron-beam. An x-ray tube (10 or 20) with multiple protrusions (19) on an interior wall of a drift-tube (18) can reduce this electrical-charge build-up. The protrusions (19) can reflect stray electrons back to the anode target (14), thus suppressing backscatter. Each protrusion (19) can have a peak (19.sub.p) extending into the hole (18.sub.h), and receding to a base (19.sub.b) farther from the electron-beam, on an entry-side (19.sub.en) nearest the drift-tube-entry (18.sub.en) and on an exit-side (19.sub.ex) nearest the drift-tube-exit (18.sub.ex).

Electrons can rebound from an x-ray tube target, causing electrical-charge build-up on an inside of the x-ray tube. The charge build-up can increase voltage gradients inside of the x-ray tube, resulting in arcing failure of the x-ray tube. Also, the electrical charge can build unevenly on internal walls of the x-ray tube, causing an undesirable shift of the electron-beam. An x-ray tube (10 or 20) with multiple protrusions (19) on an interior wall of a drift-tube (18) can reduce this electrical-charge build-up. The protrusions (19) can reflect stray electrons back to the anode target (14), thus suppressing backscatter. Each protrusion (19) can have a peak (19.sub.p) extending into the hole (18.sub.h), and receding to a base (19.sub.b) farther from the electron-beam, on an entry-side (19.sub.en) nearest the drift-tube-entry (18.sub.en) and on an exit-side (19.sub.en) nearest the drift-tube-exit (18.sub.ex).

An anode target comprises: a plurality of target structures, used for receiving an electron beam emitted by a cathode to generate a ray, the plurality of target structures being of three-dimensional structures having bevels; a copper cooling body, used for bearing the target structures and comprising an oxygen-free copper cooling body; a cooling oil tube, used for cooling the anode target; and a shielding layer, used for achieving a shielding effect and comprising a tungsten shielding layer. The anode target, the ray light source, the computed tomography scanning device, and the imaging method in the present application are able to enable all target spots on the anode target to be distributed on a straight line, imaging quality of a ray system is improved, and complexity of an imaging system is reduced.

An anode for an X-ray tube is provided. The anode has a shape configured such that, in use: an electron beam impinges upon the anode at a focal spot on the surface of the anode, and the anode is heated by the electron beam from a first state to a predetermined second state and undergoes resulting thermal expansion causing a change in the location of the focal spot on the surface of the anode, wherein the configured shape of the anode is such that the spatial position of the focal spot with respect to the X-ray tube is substantially the same for the first state and the second state. A method of producing an anode for an X-ray tube is also provided.

According to some aspects, a carrier configured for use with a broadband x-ray source comprising an electron source and a primary target arranged to receive electrons from the electron source to produce broadband x-ray radiation in response to electrons impinging on the primary target is provided. The carrier comprising a housing configured to be removeably coupled to the broadband x-ray source and configured to accommodate a secondary target capable of producing monochromatic x-ray radiation in response to incident broadband x-ray radiation, the housing comprising a transmissive portion configured to allow broadband x-ray radiation to be transmitted to the secondary target when present, and a blocking portion configured to absorb broadband x-ray radiation.

A cooling system used in an X-ray generator having a cathode and anode that includes a target having a focal spot, wherein heat is generated in the anode and focal spot during operation of the X-ray generator. The system includes a heat transfer element attached to the anode wherein the heat transfer element includes a plurality of fin elements that transfer heat from the anode to surrounding air to cool the anode. The system also includes a liquid channel formed in the anode, wherein the liquid channel includes a cooling liquid. The liquid channel is located adjacent the target wherein heat from the focal spot is transferred to the cooling liquid to cool the focal spot wherein the heat transfer element, liquid channel and anode are unistructurally formed. Further, the cooling system includes a circulation pump that moves the cooling liquid in the liquid channel.