Introduction
The purpose of the Configure application is to generate a binary file that is downloaded
to the command processor for use in configuring the system. The configuration file is
what allows the PaxScan products to be configurable. The configuration file is generated
based upon the sales sheet from marketing/sales. Manufacturing/Sales/Marketing
executes the Configure application and inputs the appropriate values as indicated on the
sales sheet, thus, a binary configuration file is generated and downloaded to the command
processor so that command processor is configured to the requirements for that particular
customer.
The Configure application will also provide the engineering staff with a means to test
new hardware, new configurations, changes to hardware, etc. Engineering use will be
separate from the Manufacturing/Sales/Marketing use.
Furthermore, the Configure application can be used by customers to slightly modify
parameters through the customer use selection. A configuration file generated through
engineering use by a customer is not the responsibility of Varian Medical Systems unless
the customer was supervised by approved Varian Medical Systems personnel. Mostly,
customer use is provided for customers to verify configuration files.
Engineering use is designed for experimentation and test purposes only. Engineering
selection should only be used by VIP engineers or supervised by approved Varian
Medical Systems personnel.
The configuration file includes information needed to correctly configure the receptor for
acquisition as well as overall system information. Frame rate, binning, recursive filter percentage,
version information, etc. are examples of the data within the receptor configuration file.
More specific information about the data contained within the configuration file will be discussed
later in this document.
The Configure Application is designed to guide the user through a sequential set of steps which
will result in the successful creation of a configuration file. Thus, there are several dialog boxes
which require input such that configuration file creation will not be completed until all the
necessary information is provided. In general, for all dialog boxes, the data items which are gray
are not modifiable while all non-gray data items are modifiable.
There are also several dialog boxes which cannot be revisited in the same instance of the
application, i.e. once “OK” is selected, the ability to return to that window may not exist, so you
will have to cancel and restart the application to change that data.
In general, if the Cancel button of any dialog box is selected, the configuration file is not
considered complete.
Dialog Boxes
Usage
The first dialog box encountered determines how the Configure Application will be used. The
application provides three uses: customer, manufacturing or engineering. This dialog box cannot
be revisited within the same instance of the Configure Application so the type of usage chosen
will be the same throughout that instance of the application. The Usage dialog box can be seen
below.
Figure 1: Usage Dialog Box
The purpose of the customer use is to provide the ability to quickly create configuration files for
customers. The customer usage provides default values for all parameters.
The manufacturing usage is designed to customize configuration files for shipment. Default
values are not provided for manufacturing; instead, all configuration information must be entered
by manufacturing based on the manufacturing/sales sheet or the configuration file created in the
field, using the “Customer Configuration” selection.
Main Screen
The purpose of the Main Screen is to determine whether the user wishes to create the system
configuration file or the receptor configuration file. The user can also use this dialog box to create
a new file, open/edit an existing file and/or save a file. The Main Screen dialog box can be
viewed below.
Figure 2: Main Screen
The “New...” buttons will create a new file. Selecting “New...” for System Configuration will
display the System Settings dialog box. The Receptor Configuration “New...” button will display
the Receptor Configuration Settings Dialog Box. Both of those dialog boxes will be discussed
later.
The “Open...” buttons will display an Open dialog box as shown below. The Open dialog box
allows the user to open files as in any other application, i.e. by double clicking on the file, or
highlighting the file and then selecting the “Open” button. If a file is opened which is not the
correct format, default values will be used.
Figure 3: Open Dialog Box
The “Save As...” buttons behave like the “Open...” buttons except the files will be saved to disk
rather than opened. Existing files can be overwritten, if “Yes” is selected when asked if you want
to overwrite the existing file.
The “Edit...” button requires that data has been entered either through opening an existing file or
through creating a new file. If a file has been opened with the “Open...” button, selecting the
“Edit...” button will result in the same dialog boxes, but the data will represent the data contained
in the opened file.
Note that the “File” field is not modifiable. This field will update to contain the name of the file
which was most recently opened or most recently saved.
Receptor Configuration Settings
The System Settings dialog box (seen below) allows the user to configure the values for the
system configuration file.
Figure 4: Receptor Configuration Settings Dialog Box
The dialog box will not disappear until all required data is entered or Cancel is selected. The
following table describes the data items in the dialog box.
Table 1: Receptor Settings Data Description
System Description High level description of the system.
System Software Version The current version of software
installed on the system.
Command Processor Serial Number The serial number of the command
processor in the system.
Receptor Serial Number The serial number of the receptor.
Corrections: The corrections allow the user to
define how the system corrections are
configured at system startup.
Offset Calibration Whether or not offset correction is
enabled at system startup.
Gain Calibration Whether or not gain correction is
enabled at system startup.
Pixel Correction Whether or not pixel correction is
enabled at system startup.
Operational Startup Configuration The state of the system after startup
processes are complete.
• Display Test Pattern – the
system will display the test
pattern and wait for
commands from the host
computer.
• Standalone – the system will
attempt to detect x-rays
on/off.
• Acquisition – the system will
be actively acquiring.
Power Supply Information The type of power supply installed
with the system. This data is not
modifiable through these dialog
boxes. To changed the power supply
type or cable length, the user must
select a receptor type and then modify
the power supply selection.
Type The type of power supply currently
selected.
Cable Length The cable length currently selected.
Receptor Type The type of receptor installed with the
system.
Max Pixel Value Defines whether a system is operating
in 12-bit or 14-bit data acquisition
mode.
Video Board Whether or not a video board is
installed with the system.
Output Configuration Defines whether the 16-bit video
output is PECL or LVDS.
Mode Settings Allows the user to define the modes
for the system.
Insert… This button allows the user to insert a
new mode. This button serves as add
and insert function. If no row in the
table is selected, the new mode will
be stored in the next available slot. If
a row is selected, the new mode will
be inserted above the selected row.
Modes can be added until the
maximum number of modes is
reached. This number is based on the
size and number of modes created.
Edit… This button allows the user to edit a
mode. To edit a mode, select the row
in the table which corresponds to the
mode that needs to be edited. If no
modes exist (i.e. through the Insert
command or a file open operation), an
“error” will be displayed.
Delete… This button allows the user to delete a
mode. To delete a mode, select the
row in the table which corresponds to
the mode that needs to be deleted.
System Mode The mode the system will operate.
• Normal – system operates
normally (performs
acquisitions).
• Test – system operates
normally and outputs debug
messages via the serial
interface.
• Flash Test – the system
operates in a mode for testing
flash.
• NeoVision – the system is a
NeoVision systems and
behaves as such.
Debug Information OFF – do not output debug messages
over serial interface.
ON – output debug messages over
serial interface.
Default is OFF.
Create CP Converted File Configure files exists in 2 formats,
K03/K04 which is used for CP1 and
K05 which is used for CP2. This
button will convert the existing
displayed configure information to
the other format. So an existing CP1
file can be converted and saved as a
new CP2 file. Also, an existing CP2
file can be converted into a new CP1
configure file.
Change Receptor Type This button is used to change the
receptor type of an existing configure
file. It can change the configure type
while leaving the mode information
intact.
The Receptor Type must be selected before enabling a mode. If not, a message box will appear
instructing the user to select a Receptor Type before continuing.
Please note that if a mode is not completely configured, i.e. the Cancel button on one of the mode
configuration dialog boxes is selected during creation of the mode while performing a “New”
operation, the mode will be deleted in the Receptor Configuration Settings dialog box.
All of the fields need to be filled before inserting a mode, otherwise error messages will appear.
Power Supply
When certain receptors are selected (e.g. 2520 product family), a power supply must also be
chosen. The following dialog box will appear.
Figure 5: Power Supply Selection Dialog Box
If a Power Supply Selection choice of anything except Fiber Optic is made, the following dialog
box will appear for choosing the cable length.
Figure 6: Cable Length/Voltage Selection Dialog Box
Mode Selection
The Mode Selection Dialog Box allows the user to choose the mode type. When “Insert...” is
selected, if the receptor has the DCDS feature, the following dialog box will appear to allow the
user to select the line length desired.
Figure 7: DCDS Line Length Selection
The mode types will vary depending on the receptor type and line length as appropriate. Once a
mode type is selected, the Mode Setup dialog box will be displayed. The following dialog box is
an example of the Mode Selection dialog box.
Figure 8: Mode Selection Dialog Box
The gray box at the top left is not modifiable and only provides a reminder as to which mode the
user has enabled.
Mode Setup
Manufacturing and Customer Use
The Mode Setup dialog box allows the user to select specific details that pertain to how the
system should configure a particular mode. The modifiable data in the Mode Setup dialog box
will depend on the type of mode selected, the receptor type and the line length as appropriate.
Figure 9: Mode Setup Dialog Box
The following table describes the data items in the Mode Setup dialog box.
Table 2: Mode Setup Data Description
Mode # Number of the currently selected
mode. Information only, not
modifiable.
Mode Name A high level description of the mode
type that has been selected.
Information only, not modifiable.
Receptor Type The type of receptor that was
selected. Information only, not
modifiable.
DCDS Enable Whether or not DCDS correction is
enabled for the mode selected.
Information only, not modifiable.
Frame Rate The frame rate for the mode. The
values in this field will change
depending upon the mode and
receptor selected.
Gain The gain value applied to signals
before digital-to-analog conversion.
The values in this field will vary
depending upon the mode and
receptor selected.
Binning The number or receptor pixels which
are binned to make one image pixel.
The value in this field will vary
depending upon the mode and
receptor selected.
Frame Synchronization Defines how frames will be
synchronized.
• Free Running – The frame
start sync pulse and all
internal clocks are created
from internal circuits.
• Line Sync – The frame start
pulse and internal clocks are
generated internally, but the
AC line frequency is used as a
reference. This option is not
available for certain
mode/receptor combinations.
• User Sync – Frame start pulse
is supplied from the user, all
internal clocks are then
generated based on the user
supplied frame start pulse.
Calibration Information Information for how a calibration
should be performed.
Number of Calibration Frames The number of frames to accumulate
during a calibration.
Offset Threshold Value for Defects Threshold value used during offset
calibrations to bound values.
Gain Scaling If disable is selected, gain scaling will
be off, else if enable is selected, gain
scaling will be on.
Auto Calibration Information Auto offset calibration data, enabled
or disabled. If disabled, the other
data does not need to be entered.
Min Delay The minimum time delay between
auto offset calibrations.
Post-Exposure Delay The amount of time delay required
after an exposure.
Accumulation Acquisition Information Information specific to accumulation
type ascquisitions.
Acquisition Type This box will list the various types of
acquisitions for accumulation type
modes.
• Use Valid X-rays On and stop
at N frames – accumulation
will begin when the valid x-
rays on sync signal is received
and stop after N frames are
collected.
• Use Valid X-rays On/Off –
accumulation will start and
stop based on valid x-rays
on/off signals respectively.
• Use auto-sense On and stop at
N frames – accumulation will
begin when x-rays are
automatically detected and
stop when N frames are
collected.
• Use auto-sense On/Off –
accumulation will start and
stop when x-rays are
automatically detected and
when x-rays are no longer
detected.
Number of Acquisition Frames If the acquisition type is one that
stops at N frames, this value will
define N.
Scaling Information Defines how an accumulation type
image is scaled.
Target Value If scaling is defined as anything other
than None, this value will be the
value around which the data is scaled
(i.e. scaled up if up is selected, down
if down is selected and as appropriate
if both is selected).
Pixel Information Information pertaining to how pixels
will be rounded.
Recursive Filter The fractional contribution to each
output frame by the data already in
the recursive filter buffer.
Pixel Saturation Threshold Value The value at which a pixel is
considered to be saturated.
Pixel Saturation Replacement Value The value with which to replace a
pixel that is determined to be
saturated.