AGFA ADC 5155 X-ray Scanner Teardown (Part 1 of 4)

Part 1: Teardown of a AGFA ADC 5155 x-ray image scanner / digitizer. Also known as Computerized Radiography (CR) it fulfills the job of scanning a x-ray exposed image plate. It is scanned with a laser beam and extract each pixel illumination with a photomultiplier tube setup.

This particular unit has a very interesting computer that runs on VME framework developed for the Motorola 68000 series CPUs. This can be seen in part 2.

The machine itself came with some missing parts from the top. Front, display and HMI was missing, along with some internal parts here and there.

Electronic Parts

Among the most interesting electronics parts was a 1 kW array of halogen bulbs, a Motorola 68000 CPU based computer used for the whole machine control and scanning sequences, a very large servo motor driver board with outputs for 10 motors and a RFID scanner / writer setup. Computer teardown and reverse engineering will be in part 2.

Laser Scanner

The laser scanner and photomultiplier tube assembly made out a good chunk of the weight. It is very heavy, on rubber mounts and sturdy unit built to minimize any kind of external vibrations. The teardown and reverse engineering video laser scanning module will be in part 3. The PMT / photomultiplier tube and power supply will be in part 4.