Direct Conversion Detectors Research Articles

A slot-scanned photodiode-array/CCD hybrid detector for digital mammography.

We have developed a novel direct conversion detector for use in a slot-scanning digital mammography system. The slot-scan concept allows for dose efficient scatter rejection and the ability to use small detectors to produce a large-area image. The detector is a hybrid design with a 1.0 mm thick silicon PIN photodiode array (the x-ray absorber) indium-bump bonded to a CCD readout that is operated in time-delay integration (TDI) mode. Because the charge capacity requirement for good image quality exceeds the capabilities of standard CCDs, a novel CCD was developed. This CCD consists of 24 independent sections, each acting as a miniature CCD with eight rows for TDI. The signal from each section is combined off-chip to produce a full signal image. The MTF and DQE for the device was measured at several exposures and compared to a linear systems model of signal and noise propagation. Because of the scanning nature of TDI imaging, both the MTF(f) and DQE(f) are reduced along the direction of the scanning motion. For a 26 kVp spectrum, the DQE(0) was measured to be 0.75+/-0.02 for an exposure of 1.29 x 10(-5) C/kg (50 mR).

Theoretical analysis of hybrid flat-panel detector arrays for digital x-ray fluoroscopy: general sys

Semiconductor flat-panel detector arrays are being investigated for applications in digital x-ray medical imaging. This paper describes the system architecture and theoretical signal and noise processes of a proposed hybrid cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) based CMOS active pixel sensor (APS) array for fluoroscopy. Sim- ulations were performed using an 80-kVp-tungsten spectrum and a 200- m pixel. The proposed system appears to exhibit favor- able characteristics in terms of charge generation, lag, quantum noise, and other electronic sources of noise, and compared well with other direct conversion detectors. Overall, we expect the system to be x-ray quantum noise limited under diagnostic exposure condi- tions for fluoroscopy and conclude that the proposed imager ex- hibits promising characteristics for applications in diagnostic x-ray imaging.

Direct conversion Si and CdZnTe detectors for digital mammography

Hybrid pixel detector arrays that convert X-rays directly into charge signals are under development at NOVA for application to digital mammography. This technology also has wide application possibilities in other fields of radiology or in industrial imaging, nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and nondestructive inspection (NDI). These detectors have potentially superior properties compared to either emulsion-based film-screen systems which has nonlinear response to X-rays, or phosphor-based detectors in which there is an intermediate step of X-ray to light photon conversion (Feig and Yaffe, Radiol. Clinics North America 33 (1995) 1205–1230). Potential advantages of direct conversion detectors are high quantum efficiencies (QE) of 98% or higher (for 0.3 mm thick CdZnTe detector with 20 keV X-rays), improved contrast, high sensitivity and low intrinsic noise. These factors are expected to contribute to high detective quantum efficiency (DQE). The prototype hybrid pixel detector developed has 50×50 μm pixel size, and is designed to have linear response to X-rays, and can support a dynamic range up to 14 bits. Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) is measured on a 1-mm silicon detector system where 10% or better modulations are obtained at 10 lp/mm spatial frequency. Preliminary DQE measurements of the same detector yields a value of 75% at zero spatial frequency. In this paper, we report results obtained from our first full size prototype readout ASIC chips hybridized with both silicon and CdZnTe detector arrays and present preliminary MTF and DQE measurement results as well as some test images.

Hybrid direct conversion detectors for digital mammography

Hybrid pixel detector arrays that convert X-rays directly into charge signals are under development at NOVA for application to digital mammography. This technology also has wide application possibilities in other fields of radiology and in industrial imaging for applications in nondestructive evaluation and inspection. These detectors have potentially superior properties compared to either emulsion based film, which has nonlinear response to X-rays, or phosphor-based detectors in which there is an intermediate step of X-ray to light photon conversion. Potential advantages of direct conversion detectors are high quantum efficiencies (QE) of 98% or higher (for 0.3 mm thick CdZnTe detector with 20 keV X-rays), improved contrast, high sensitivity and low intrinsic noise. These factors are expected to contribute to high detective quantum efficiency (DQE). The prototype hybrid pixel detector developed has 50/spl times/50 microns pixel size, and is designed to have linear response to X-rays, and can support a dynamic range of 14 bits. Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) is measured on a l-mm silicon detector system where 10% or better modulations are obtained at 10 lp/mm spatial frequency. Preliminary DQE measurements of the same system yields a value of 55% at zero spatial frequency. Here, the authors report data of their first full size prototype readout ASIC chips hybridized with both silicon and CdZnTe detector arrays and present initial MTF and DQE measurement results as well as some test images.