ddRCompact LC

Stitching – Quick User Guide

ddRCompact LC
Stitching
Quick User Guide
(For internal use only)

November 25 2008

This document is for internal use only! It describes the behaviour of the system from eXpert version
1.2.1.0 on. Older versions might behave slight differently. Please take this into account when read-
ing it.

1 Stitching Workflow
After pressing the Stitching button in the X-Ray-Interface, the user is able to configure the stitching
process. The user can choose between “Backbone” and “Longleg”, AP and Lateral. Furthermore,
the height and width of the total picture range have to be specified as well as the direction in which
the pictures are to be taken.

1.1 Move to Initial Position

Before defining the actual picture heights the radiographer has to move the system in its initial
stitching position by pressing the APS button on the remote.The initial position moves the arm into
a horizontal position (see figure 1). As soon as this position is reached the fields and buttons
needed for the total picture range definition are enabled.

Figure 1

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Stitching – Quick User Guide

1.2 Define Total Picture Range

The total picture range can be defined in two ways:

1) The simplest way is to simply enter the upper and lower bounds into the text fields manu-
ally.
2) Since this might not be practical in certain situations, the bounds can also be specified us-
ing the StandDriveLevel and the Collimation height: For that purpose the system can be
moved to the desired heights to adjust the upper or lower bound of the total picture range.
Adjust the collimator height, so that it marks the upper or lower bound of the total picture
range and finally press the center button on the remote control. By default the collimator
height is 20cm (from eXpert3000 version 1.2.1.0 on, for older version it is 44cm). After that
drive the system to the other bound of the range, adjust the collimator and press center
again.
3) Values and Number of Exposures:

Number of Exposures Min Total Image Range Max Total Image Range
2 45 cm 79 cm
3 80 cm 114 cm
4 115 cm 149 cm

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Stitching – Quick User Guide

Notes:
• The text boxes in the GUI display the actual bounds of the total picture range in-
stead of the corresponding StandDriveLevels as it was before (please remember
that older versions display the current stand drive level). This also applies to the
manual adjustment of the text boxes – you always enter the actual bounds of the
Total Picture Range!

• Whenever the current height is saved as a new lower or upper bound please be
aware of the following fact: The value currently displayed on the stand monitor is
NOT the value set as the new border height. Instead you have to take into account
half of the collimator height, i.e. by default plus 10cm or -10cm for upper or lower
image border respectively when compared to the stand drive level (see figure 1).
Again, for systems with eXpert3000 version older than 1.2.1.0 the value used to set
a new image border height differs by +/- 22cm from the value on the stand monitor.

• The population of the lower or upper image border follows a very strict logic: It does
not take into account if a border has been saved yet or no nor does it take into ac-
count which one has been saved and which one not! Whenever a stand drive level
position is saved it modifies the one border lying closer to the height of the current
stand drive level! By having a new default collimator height of 20 cm the possibility
of changing the false border (from a user’s perspective) is lowered.

• Image border maximal and minimum possible heights: The minimal height possible
to use as the lower image border is 22 cm while the maximal height possible to en-
ter as the upper image border is 199 cm. These values are based on the possibility
of the arm movement boundaries but will not be explained any further here.

1.3 Define Collimation Width

The width of the collimation can be defined anytime during the stitching configuration process.
Again, there are now two ways to specify the collimation width:
1) Use the new text field on the right of the Stitching GUI. The changes are not yet sent to the
system, so that you do not see the collimation width on the patient. However, the value is
stored internally as soon as you leave the collimator width text box.
2) Set the collimator at the system using the remote control or the knobs of the collimator.
When using this way, you will have to press the Center button on the remote control after-
wards to send the new collimation width to the eXpert3000 software. Note that it will also
send the current position to the software, so this will be set as well.

Note: After configuring the collimation width, you should not press the APS button on the remote
control anymore, since this would reset the collimation width to 44cm.

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1.4 Stitching process

After the total picture range and the collimator width are defined, the “Æ Stitch” button must be
pressed to switch from configuration mode to acquisition mode. If the button is greyed out and
cannot be pressed, the bounds of the total picture range are not valid. Either the range is too small
(i.e. the range can be covered by one single picture) or the range is too large (i.e. it cannot be cov-
ered by four images with full collimator opening). After pressing the Stitch button, it is no longer
possible to adjust the configuration for this stitching process since all stitching positions have been
calculated. To bring the system into the start position, it is necessary to press the APS button once
until the system beeps. After the first stitching position is reached, the exposure button must be
pressed and held down to start the actual stitching process. The first image will be taken and af-
terwards the system will drive to the next stitching position where the next image will be taken. This
procedure continues until all necessary images are taken.
Please note that you must not release the exposure button during the stitching process since this
would immediately abort the process!

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