ingiant technology | Industry new | April 7.2025
In the modern medical diagnosis system, CT scanners occupy a pivotal position and are a powerful assistant for doctors to understand the patient's physical condition and accurately diagnose diseases. As the "heart" of CT scanners, slip ring technology has set off a profound revolution in medical imaging technology and provided key support for clinical diagnosis. Next, let's explore the working mechanism and application scenarios of CT slip ring technology, as well as how it promotes continuous progress in the field of medical imaging.
Ⅰ. Understanding CT slip rings
CT slip rings are essentially an ingenious electromechanical device that shoulders the important mission of stably transmitting power and signals between the rotating and stationary parts of the CT scanner. During the CT scanning process, the X-ray source and detector need to continue to rotate at high speed. The CT slip ring not only needs to continuously supply them with power, but also needs to timely and accurately transmit the massive scanning data collected by the detector to ensure that the entire scanning process is smooth and unobstructed, laying a solid foundation for subsequent image generation and disease diagnosis.
Ⅱ. Working principle of CT slip ring
Sophisticated structural design
CT slip ring is mainly composed of three parts: conductive ring, brush and insulating material. The conductive ring is usually made of copper alloy. This kind of material has excellent conductivity, can realize efficient transmission of power and signal, and greatly reduce the loss in the transmission process. The brush is mostly made of graphite, which not only has good conductivity but also has excellent wear resistance. When the equipment is running, the brush is always in close contact with the conductive ring to maintain a stable electrical connection. The insulating material cleverly separates the conductive rings, effectively preventing the occurrence of short circuit and ensuring the safe operation of the equipment.
Cooperative operation mechanism
When the CT scanner is started, the scanning frame starts to rotate, and the conductive ring of the slip ring rotates synchronously. At the same time, the brush remains stationary with a unique fixing device and is in close contact with the rotating conductive ring, thereby building a stable electrical path. On the one hand, this path transmits the power of the stationary part to the rotating X-ray source to ensure its stable operation; on the other hand, it quickly transmits the signal collected by the detector back to the computer system of the stationary part to provide data support for image processing and generation.
Ⅲ. Advantages of CT slip rings
Help to achieve a leap in imaging accuracy
Slip ring technology enables CT scanners to achieve continuous rotation scanning, greatly reducing the interference of motion artifacts, allowing doctors to obtain clearer and more accurate images. Taking lung disease diagnosis as an example, high-definition CT images can help doctors capture early micro-lesions and buy precious time for timely treatment of patients.
All-round safety guarantee
Modern CT slip rings use advanced insulation technology to significantly reduce the risk of leakage, which not only protects the safety of patients in all aspects, but also extends the service life of the equipment and effectively reduces the safety hazards caused by equipment failure.
Ensure stable and reliable operation
CT slip rings have been carefully designed and repeatedly tested to adapt to long-term and high-intensity working environments. During continuous scanning, it can ensure stable transmission of power and signals, greatly reduce scanning interruptions, and significantly improve the work efficiency of medical institutions.
Bring long-term cost benefits
Although the initial purchase cost of CT slip rings is relatively high, because of their long service life and reduced maintenance frequency of equipment, in the long run, they can save a lot of operating costs for medical institutions.
With excellent durability
CT slip rings are made of high-quality materials and can withstand frequent rotation and friction. They can maintain stable performance even in complex and harsh working environments.
Ⅳ. Disadvantages of CT slip rings
Transmission efficiency bottleneck
When massive amounts of data need to be transmitted, CT slip rings may have slow transmission speeds, resulting in longer scanning times. In large hospitals with large patient traffic, this problem may affect the progress of patient examinations and reduce overall work efficiency.
High maintenance requirements
In order to ensure the normal operation of CT slip rings, they need to be maintained regularly, including cleaning brushes and conductive rings, checking insulation performance, etc. This not only increases the manpower and material costs of medical institutions, but may also cause equipment downtime and affect normal diagnosis and treatment.
Friction and noise troubles
During the rotation process, the friction between the brushes and the conductive rings will generate a certain amount of noise, which will not only cause discomfort to patients, but also cause long-term accumulation of components. Wear and tear affect the performance and service life of the slip ring.
Purchase cost pressure
Compared with some other components, the manufacturing process of CT slip rings is complex and the technical content is high, so the procurement cost is relatively high, which brings greater economic pressure to some medical institutions with limited budgets.
Ⅴ. Slip ring technology promotes the innovation of CT scanners
From "stop-and-shoot" to continuous rotation
Early CT scanners used the "stop-and-shoot" mode, with slow scanning speed and poor image quality. The advent of slip ring technology has enabled CT scanners to achieve continuous rotation, greatly improving the scanning speed and creating conditions for the birth of spiral CT.
The birth and breakthrough of spiral CT
With the help of slip ring technology, spiral CT achieves synchronous and continuous rotation of the X-ray source and detector during the scanning process, while the patient moves forward at a uniform speed to complete the scan. This technology not only shortens the scanning time, but also improves the image resolution and multi-plane reconstruction capabilities, providing more comprehensive and accurate information for clinical diagnosis.
The realization of cardiac CT and dynamic scanning
With the continuous advancement of slip ring technology, the scanning speed of CT scanners has been further improved, making cardiac CT and dynamic scanning a reality. These advanced scanning technologies can capture dynamic images of the heart, providing key evidence for the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.
VI. Application of CT slip rings in different scanning technologies
Spiral CT
Spiral CT uses slip ring technology to achieve continuous rotation scanning, which can obtain a large amount of scanning data in a short time, providing doctors with clear and comprehensive three-dimensional images, and is widely used in the examination of various parts of the body.
Movie CT
Movie CT uses slip ring technology to achieve fast and continuous scanning, which can capture the dynamic changes of organs. It is often used in the examination of cardiovascular and respiratory systems to help doctors observe the movement of organs.
Heart CT
Heart CT has extremely high requirements for scanning speed. The high-speed transmission characteristics of slip ring technology allow heart CT to complete scanning in a very short time and obtain clear images of the heart, providing strong support for the early diagnosis of heart disease.
CT perfusion
CT perfusion uses slip ring technology to quantitatively analyze the blood perfusion of tissues and organs, helping doctors to judge the vitality and degree of lesions of tissues, and plays an important role in tumor diagnosis and treatment.
Gated lung imaging
Gated lung imaging uses slip ring technology and respiratory gating technology to obtain images of the lungs in different respiratory phases, providing more accurate information for the diagnosis and treatment of lung diseases.
CT Fluoroscopy
CT Fluoroscopy uses slip ring technology to achieve real-time scanning. Doctors can observe the patient's internal structure in real time during the scanning process, providing precise guidance for interventional treatment.
VII. Types of slip rings suitable for CT scanners
Capsule slip rings
Capsule slip rings are small in size and compact in structure. They can achieve efficient power and signal transmission in a limited space, which is very suitable for small CT scanners.
Pancake slip rings
Pancake slip rings are thin in thickness, small in space, and have good electrical performance. They are suitable for CT scanners with high space requirements.
High-speed slip rings
High-speed slip rings can meet the needs of high-speed rotation of CT scanners and complete large amounts of data transmission in a short time. They are suitable for equipment such as cardiac CT that require extremely high scanning speeds.
Fiber optic rotary joints
Fiber optic rotary joints use optical fibers for signal transmission. They have the advantages of fast transmission speed and strong anti-interference ability, which can ensure that CT scanners obtain high-quality image data.
Hollow shaft slip rings
The center of the hollow shaft slip ring has a through hole, which is convenient for other components to pass through, providing greater flexibility for the structural design of CT scanners.
Mercury impregnated lubricating rings
Mercury impregnated lubricating rings have good conductivity and low friction, which can ensure the stability of the slip ring during long-term operation. They are suitable for CT scanners with high stability requirements.
Customized slip rings
According to the special needs of different CT scanners, customized slip rings can provide personalized solutions to ensure that the slip rings are perfectly matched with the equipment.
Ⅷ. Frequently Asked Questions about CT Slip Rings
Q1:How long is the service life of CT slip rings?
A:The service life of CT slip rings is affected by many factors such as frequency of use, working environment, and maintenance. Generally speaking, the service life of high-quality CT slip rings can reach 5-10 years.
Q2:How to determine whether the CT slip ring is faulty?
A2:When the CT scanner has problems such as image abnormalities, scanning interruptions, and increased noise, the CT slip ring may be faulty. At this time, professional technicians are required to conduct a comprehensive inspection and repair of the slip ring.
Q3:Can the CT slip ring be replaced by yourself?
A3:The replacement of CT slip rings requires professional technology and tools, and involves the calibration and debugging of the equipment. Therefore, it is not recommended to replace it by yourself. You should contact professional maintenance personnel for operation.
As the core technology of CT scanners, slip ring technology has played an irreplaceable role in the development of medical imaging technology. With the continuous advancement of science and technology, it is believed that slip ring technology will continue to innovate and bring more surprises and breakthroughs to medical diagnosis.
Post time: Apr-07-2025