2014 Issue

44 I NNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY EXEM- PLIFIES the efforts of the engineers at Varian Medical Systems, X-ray Products Division in Salt Lake City, Utah. Varian’s products are the latest in x-ray imaging technology that has produced revolution- ary new ways in diagnosing patients in the health care industry. These products make it possible to view clear and detailed x-ray images of the human body. X-ray scans can now be done within seconds giving doctors detailed information that will be applied to life saving diagnosis and procedures. Other Varian products make it possible to image large cargo containers at ports to evaluate contents and evaluate unknown materials in substances. Tradition is the foundation of technologi- cal excellence at Varian. The Palo Alto, California-based company was founded under the name VarianAssociates in 1948 by brothers Russell and Sigurd Varian and others, including a number of Stanford University researchers. The founders developed the klystron tube, which became the foundation for radar and microwave communications, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology, which led to great advances in molecular research. The company went on to develop analytical instruments, vacuum products, and semiconductor manufacturing products. The Salt Lake operation was started when Varian purchased Ei- mac in 1965, a supplier of power vacuum tube technology for the broadcasting industry. Shortly thereafter, an Eimac plant manager introduced a line of glass x-ray tubes which used the same fab- ricating and processing technology as the power tubes. An engineer who held one of the first patents on metal x-ray tube technology was hired as the first engineeringmanager for the new x-ray operation. A line of metal x-ray tubes was developed and became the signature technology that Varian is known for in the industry today. The Salt Lake division of Varian manu- factures more than 400 types of X-ray tubes and produce more than 22,000 tubes per year. One example of the industry setting products developed by the engineers at the Salt Lake division is a high powered, CAT scanning x-ray tube. This product made it possible to obtain approxi- mately 30% more diagnostic information with clearer images than the latest technology tubes at the time. This was achieved by designing inno- vative heat transfer devices into the product that collected stray high energy secondary electrons from the target. It also employed new end grounded high voltage technology in creating the necessary high voltage potential to ac- celerate electrons. This x-ray tube has been the leading industry standard for over 10 years in CT technology. In 1987, innovative flat panel imaging technology was introduced at the Salt Lake facility. This technology was developed at the Varian Ginston Technology Center in Palo Alto, California. Varian’s amor- phous-silicon flat-panel image detectors for digital radiography work by converting x-rays that strike its surface into light, and then turning the light into electronic data that a computer can display as a high-quality digital image. The resulting Varian panels set the standard in digital imaging. The Varian PaxScan® line of ultra-fast flat-panel digital X-ray image detectors are used to capture X-ray images and display them on computer screens, eliminating the need for filmand filmprocessing. VARIAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS, X-RAY PRODUCTS DIVISION A PART OF THE UTAH ENGINEERING COMMUNITY By John E Richardson PE, UEC 1st Past Chair Salt Lake City Utah manufacturing facility