An electromagnetic lens is designed to focus the electron beam by using a suitable shaped magnetic field. The lens is a symmetric electromagnet consisting of wire coil, magnetic iron yoke and iron pole pieces. A strong magnetic field is produced by passing a current through the windings. This field acts as a convex lens; converge off axis rays back to focus. Like an optical lens, a magnetic lens is characterized by focal length and can be altered by changing the strength of the current.

The focal spot is the point where the electron beam impinges on the tube anode and from which x-rays are emitted. The size of the focal spot is determined by the size of the filament and cathode, which is determined by the manufacturer.
Most x-ray tubes have more than one focal spot size. The size of the focal spot has influence on spatial resolution. The smaller the focal spot, the better the limiting spatial resolution of the x-ray system, especially in magnification mammography. The use of a small focal spot concentrates heat onto a smaller portion of the anode therefore, more heat is generated and a longer cooling time is necessary.

A focused grid consists of lead foil strips interspersed with strips of radiolucent material that are angled in order to coincide with the shape of the beam.

The gantry tilt is the angle between the vertical plane, and the plane containing the x-ray beam and the detector array. The gantry angulation allows aligning the selected anatomic region with the scanning plane.
A CT gantry can typically be angled up to 30° forward or backward. However, the gantry angulation is determined by the manufacturer and varies among CT systems. In a series of CT scans made with a tilted gantry the anatomy shifts in location from scan to scan.

An imaging plate is used in computed radiography (CR) instead of a conventional film cassette.
The imaging plate is coated with photostimulable phosphors. The phosphor layer is doped with special substances to alter the crystalline structure and physical properties. After radiation, the enhanced phosphor material absorbs and stores x-ray energy in gaps of the crystal structure, building a latent image.
Usually, the storage phosphors are stimulated with a low-energy laser to release visible light at each point of x-ray absorption. To read-out the image, the plate is inserted into a computed radiography scanner. The scanning laser beam causes the electrons to relax to lower energy levels, emitting light that is captured by a photo-multiplier tube and converted into an electrical signal. The electronic signal is then converted to digital data and can be displayed on laser-printed films, workstations, transmitted to remote systems, and stored digitally.
The CR units automatically erase the image plate after the complete scan. Phosphor imaging plates, like film, are stored in cassette format and can be re-used very often if they are handled carefully. Existing conventional x-ray equipment, from generators to x-ray tubes and examination systems, can be used with imaging plates.