ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,285,906, issued on April 29, was assigned to GE Precision Healthcare LLC (Wauwatosa, Wis.).

"Systems and methods for controlling thermal conduction in X-ray tube cathodes" was invented by Kevin Kruse (Muskego, Wis.) and Thomas Murray (Milwaukee).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Systems and methods are provided for improving thermal management strategies of a cathode assembly of an X-ray tube. In one embodiment, an X-ray tube comprises an anode assembly and a cathode assembly, wherein the cathode assembly includes one or more elements that include an internal porous section for controlling a flow of heat within the cathode assembly during ope...