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Building a DIY CT/CAT scanner for $200 [video]

118 points by walterbell 3y ago

givinguflac 3y ago
This strikes me as a way to give yourself cancer, no?
- bazooka5798 3y ago
  Only in California
jszymborski 3y ago
Reminds when William Osman hacked a dentist's X-ray source https://youtu.be/IiJAq53knwc https://youtu.be/IiJAq53knwc
- Fatnino 3y ago
  The vitriol he received from that video basically drove his main channel into hibernation.
  - jszymborski 3y ago
    I know :( We're poorer everyday for it.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
walterbell 3y ago
From YT comments: … this kid appears to know what he’s doing. He even built a fairly outrageous DC power supply specifically for this project. … It was smart to use the remote control to keep away from the X-rays! … hence, why he was across the yard … Protip man, build a little lead or steel vault for that thing to protect yourself AND remove background radiation that is noising up your image. Then get yourself a survey meter and make sure you are keeping exposure outside the vault to 5mr/Hr or less. … Excellent work young man. When I read the title of your video, I thought perhaps you misunderstood the complex nature of the reconstruction algorithm. Turns out I was the one trying to keep up with your explanations and logic. … I fix CT scanners for a living. This is pretty darn cool!! When you started out, I was trying to figure out how you were going to make all of that rotate around your “patient.” You simply rotated your “patient” itself. Well done! … While not medical grade, it still demonstrates the working principle and actually extremely useful for imaging internal structures of all sorts of things! Consumer electronics imaged by industrial CT scanner: https://www.lumafield.com/article/inspect-electronics-industrial-ct https://www.lumafield.com/article/inspect-electronics-indust... Precursor videos: Building an X-Ray power supply, https://youtube.com/watch?v=ppIhQ0ZldZ0 https://youtube.com/watch?v=ppIhQ0ZldZ0 Turning TV parts into an X-ray machine, https://youtube.com/watch?v=LXnK_lMQbYc https://youtube.com/watch?v=LXnK_lMQbYc Building an X-Ray machine in my backyard, https://youtube.com/watch?v=oxfPK6PlyRY https://youtube.com/watch?v=oxfPK6PlyRY
- zettabomb 3y ago
  >I fix CT scanners for a living. This is pretty darn cool!! When you started out, I was trying to figure out how you were going to make all of that rotate around your “patient.” You simply rotated your “patient” itself. Well done! It's worth noting that this is in fact the approach for most industrial CT scanners, which are perfectly capable of punching through perhaps half an inch of steel in my experience (not a CT tech, just an engineer that has used them - there might be more powerful ones out there). It's usually just a small turntable. Conveniently, the object to be imaged usually doesn't care too much about the radiation when it's made of metal.
fergbrain 3y ago
Ben from Applied Science did this 11 years ago too: https://youtu.be/hF3V-GHiJ78?si=I6xH7WrrqVaDK-Hv https://youtu.be/hF3V-GHiJ78?si=I6xH7WrrqVaDK-Hv
doctoboggan 3y ago
Pretty cool, although it seems like he is blasting his phone with x-rays? I am guessing that thin phosphorescent screen isn't blocking much.
- jacquesm 3y ago
  As long as it works, it works. Interestingly the phone doesn't glitch. I wonder how many x-ray equivalent doses the lighter, the guy and his phone have picked up by now. This is probably safe if you do it once but I'd definitely not do this regularly.
  - Solvency 3y ago
    I'm now remembering The Knick when that guy gets cancer from his obsession with the x-ray machine.
Prcmaker 3y ago
That sound like a lot fun. Working on similar recently, I've learned the basics are almost trivial with the information and technology that is now widely availablr, and this really demonstrates that.
qwezxcrty 3y ago
I was planning to build something similar with a higher budget for a Spellman HVPS, a shielded Oxford Xray tube, and a CMOS flat panel detector. However, I learned the potential law consequence of irradiating my neighbors if they found out and that the Xray from the planned 1mA, 50kVp system cannot be shielded to an absolutely safe value easily. I decided to put the plan on a indefinite hold.
techdragon 3y ago
Sadly this would be illegal in Australia.

118 points by walterbell 3y ago

givinguflac 3y ago

This strikes me as a way to give yourself cancer, no?

bazooka5798 3y ago
Only in California

jszymborski 3y ago

Reminds when William Osman hacked a dentist's X-ray source https://youtu.be/IiJAq53knwc https://youtu.be/IiJAq53knwc

Fatnino 3y ago
The vitriol he received from that video basically drove his main channel into hibernation.
- jszymborski 3y ago
  I know :( We're poorer everyday for it.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

walterbell 3y ago

From YT comments: … this kid appears to know what he’s doing. He even built a fairly outrageous DC power supply specifically for this project. … It was smart to use the remote control to keep away from the X-rays! … hence, why he was across the yard … Protip man, build a little lead or steel vault for that thing to protect yourself AND remove background radiation that is noising up your image. Then get yourself a survey meter and make sure you are keeping exposure outside the vault to 5mr/Hr or less. … Excellent work young man. When I read the title of your video, I thought perhaps you misunderstood the complex nature of the reconstruction algorithm. Turns out I was the one trying to keep up with your explanations and logic. … I fix CT scanners for a living. This is pretty darn cool!! When you started out, I was trying to figure out how you were going to make all of that rotate around your “patient.” You simply rotated your “patient” itself. Well done! … While not medical grade, it still demonstrates the working principle and actually extremely useful for imaging internal structures of all sorts of things! Consumer electronics imaged by industrial CT scanner: https://www.lumafield.com/article/inspect-electronics-industrial-ct https://www.lumafield.com/article/inspect-electronics-indust... Precursor videos: Building an X-Ray power supply, https://youtube.com/watch?v=ppIhQ0ZldZ0 https://youtube.com/watch?v=ppIhQ0ZldZ0 Turning TV parts into an X-ray machine, https://youtube.com/watch?v=LXnK_lMQbYc https://youtube.com/watch?v=LXnK_lMQbYc Building an X-Ray machine in my backyard, https://youtube.com/watch?v=oxfPK6PlyRY https://youtube.com/watch?v=oxfPK6PlyRY

zettabomb 3y ago
>I fix CT scanners for a living. This is pretty darn cool!! When you started out, I was trying to figure out how you were going to make all of that rotate around your “patient.” You simply rotated your “patient” itself. Well done! It's worth noting that this is in fact the approach for most industrial CT scanners, which are perfectly capable of punching through perhaps half an inch of steel in my experience (not a CT tech, just an engineer that has used them - there might be more powerful ones out there). It's usually just a small turntable. Conveniently, the object to be imaged usually doesn't care too much about the radiation when it's made of metal.

fergbrain 3y ago

Ben from Applied Science did this 11 years ago too: https://youtu.be/hF3V-GHiJ78?si=I6xH7WrrqVaDK-Hv https://youtu.be/hF3V-GHiJ78?si=I6xH7WrrqVaDK-Hv

doctoboggan 3y ago

Pretty cool, although it seems like he is blasting his phone with x-rays? I am guessing that thin phosphorescent screen isn't blocking much.

jacquesm 3y ago
As long as it works, it works. Interestingly the phone doesn't glitch. I wonder how many x-ray equivalent doses the lighter, the guy and his phone have picked up by now. This is probably safe if you do it once but I'd definitely not do this regularly.
- Solvency 3y ago
  I'm now remembering The Knick when that guy gets cancer from his obsession with the x-ray machine.

Prcmaker 3y ago

That sound like a lot fun. Working on similar recently, I've learned the basics are almost trivial with the information and technology that is now widely availablr, and this really demonstrates that.

qwezxcrty 3y ago

I was planning to build something similar with a higher budget for a Spellman HVPS, a shielded Oxford Xray tube, and a CMOS flat panel detector. However, I learned the potential law consequence of irradiating my neighbors if they found out and that the Xray from the planned 1mA, 50kVp system cannot be shielded to an absolutely safe value easily. I decided to put the plan on a indefinite hold.

techdragon 3y ago

Sadly this would be illegal in Australia.