Planar cone-beam computed tomography with a flat-panel detector

Abstract

For a dedicated x-ray inspection of printed-circuit boards (PCBs), a bench-top planar cone-beam computed tomography (pCT) system with a flat-panel detector has been built in the laboratory. The system adopts the tomosynthesis technique that can produce cross-sectional images parallel to the axis of rotation for a limited angular range. For the optimal operation of the system and further improvement in the next design, we have evaluated imaging performances, such as modulation-transfer function, noise-power spectrum, and noise-equivalent number of quanta. The performances are comparatively evaluated with the coventional cone-beam CT (CBCT) acquisition for various scanning angular ranges, applied tube voltages, and geometrical magnification factors. The pCT scan shows a poorer noise performance than the conventional CBCT scan because of less number of projection views used for reconstruction. However, the pCT shows a better spatial-resolution performance than the CBCT. Because the image noise can be compensated by an elevated exposure level during scanning, the pCT can be a useful modality for the PCB inspection that requires higher spatial-resolution performance.