AUTHENTICATION FOR X-RAY IMAGING COMPONENTS

A communication channel (220) is configured to operatively couple a first imaging component (202) of an X-ray imaging system to a second imaging component (204) of the X-ray imaging system. The communication channel (220) comprises a first authentication module (242) associated with the communication channel (220); a second authentication module (244) associated with the second imaging component (204); a first connector (222) configured to couple to the first imaging component (202); and a second connector (224) configured to couple to the second imaging component (204). The first imaging component (202) is configured to authenticate the communication channel (220) by transmitting a challenge (302) to the first authentication module (242) and receive a response (304) to the challenge (302) transmitted by the first authentication module (242), wherein the first imaging component (202) is configured to authenticate the second imaging component (204) by transmitting a challenge (306) to the second authentication module (244) and receive a response (308) to the challenge (306) transmitted by the second authentication module (244).