The authors have developed a sandwich-like multilayer detector capable of imaging a large field of view. Two detector layers use the same photodiode arrays based on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor active pixel technology while the scintillators of the front and rear detectors are composed of Gd2O2S : Tb and CsI : Tl, respectively. The front detector is implemented on a flexible printed-circuit board (FPCB) that is electrically connected to a corresponding control/readout PCB located under the rear detector’s control/readout PCB. The energy separation between two detector layers can be improved by using additional interlayer filters. Imaging performance of each detector layer is investigated for various filter designs. The imaging performance is evaluated in terms of large-area signal and noise, modulation-transfer function, noise-power spectrum, and detective quantum efficiency.
Sandwich-like multilayer detectors can measure dual-energy images at a single x-ray shot and the resulting images are free from the motion artifacts. In case of phosphor-coupled photodiode detector-based multilayer detectors, the direct x-ray interaction within the front photodiode layer can be a significant noise source. In this study, we propose to use a fiber-optic faceplate (FOP) between the front phosphor and photodiode layers, instead of the intermediate metal filter between the front and rear detector layers. This detector design is based on the fact that the FOP can reduce the probability of direct interaction of x-ray photons with the front photodiode as well as prevent x-ray photons with lower energies from reaching the rear detector layer. We develop a cascaded-systems model to describe the signal and noise characteristics in multilayer detector designs with the FOP. With the developed model, we investigate the imaging performance of the proposed detector designs for various FOP thicknesses in comparisons with the experimental measurements. The cascaded-systems analysis and demonstration dual-energy images of a postmortem mouse show that the proposed design is feasible for dual-energy imaging.
Dual-energy imaging method has been introduced to improve conspicuity of abnormalities in radiographs. The method typically uses the fast kilovoltage-switching approach, which acquires low and high-energy projections in successive x-ray exposures with the same detector. However, it is typically known that there exists an optimal detector thickness regarding specific imaging tasks or energies used. In this study, the dual-energy detectability has been theoretically addressed for various combinations of detector thicknesses for low and high-energy spectra using the cascaded-systems analysis. Cesium iodide (CsI) is accounted for the x-ray converter in the hypothetical detector. The simple prewhitening model shows that a larger CsI thickness (250 mg cm-2 for example) would be preferred to the the typical CsI thickness of 200 mg cm-2 for better detectability. On the other hand, the typical CsI thickness is acceptable for the prewhitening model considering human-eye filter. The theoretical strategy performed in this study will be useful for a better design of detectors for dual-energy imaging.
The actual meaning of the modulation-transfer function (MTF) and the noise-power spectrum (NPS) is ambiguous in dual-energy images obtained from the single-shot sandwich detector, and their properties for various detector design parameters are also being questioned. In this study, the authors regard the sandwich detector including weighted logarithmic subtraction operation as a single black-box detector, and measure the single-shot dual-energy MTF and NPS performances. Subtraction of two images obtained from the sub-detector layers, which have different thick x-ray converters (hence, different spatial-resolution performances), of the sandwich detector yields a band-pass filter characteristic of the MTF. On the other hand, the NPS is the weighted sum of each NPS obtained from the sub-detector layers. The MTF characteristic is reflected into the DQE, hence the DQE shows a similar band-pass filter characteristics. Therefore, the sandwich detector may lose the contrast performance for large-area objects, but it may emphasize the contrast performance for objects with importance at mid-frequency information.
Single-shot dual-energy sandwich detector can produce sharp images because of subtraction of images from two sub-detector layers, which have different thick x-ray converters, of the sandwich detector. Inspired by this observation, the authors have developed a microtomography system with the sandwich detector in pursuit of high-resolution bone-enhanced small-animal imaging. The preliminary results show that the bone-enhanced images reconstructed with the subtracted projection data are better in visibility of bone details than the conventionally reconstructed images. In addition, the bone-enhanced images obtained from the sandwich detector are relatively immune to the artifacts caused by photon starvation. The microtomography with the single-shot dual-energy sandwich detector will be useful for the high-resolution bone imaging.
The scatter effect on detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of digital mammography is investigated using the
cascaded-systems model. The cascaded-systems model includes a scatter-reduction device as a binomial selection
stage. Quantum-noise-limited operation approximates the system DQE into the multiplication form of the
scatter-reduction device DQE and the conventional detector DQE. The developed DQE model is validated in
comparisons with the measured results using a CMOS flat-panel detector under scatter environments. For various
scatter-reduction devices, the slot-scan method shows the best scatter-cleanup performance in terms of DQE,
and the scatter-cleanup performance of the conventional one-dimensional grid is rather worse than the air gap.
The developed model can also be applied to general radiography and will be very useful for a better design of
imaging chain.
We have developed a novel sandwich-style single-shot (single-kV) detector by stacking two indirect-conversion flat-panel detectors for preclinical mouse imaging. In the sandwich detector structure, extra noise due to the direct x-ray absorption in photodiode arrays is inevitable. We develop a simple cascaded linear-systems model to describe signal and noise propagation in the flat-panel sandwich detector considering direct x-ray interactions. The noise-power spectrum (NPS) and detective quantum efficiency (DQE) obtained from the front and rear detectors are analyzed by using the cascaded-systems model. The NPS induced by the absorption of direct x-ray photons that are unattenuated within the photodiode layers is white in the spatial-frequency domain like the additive readout noise characteristic; hence that is harmful to the DQE at higher spatial frequencies at which the number of secondary quanta lessens. The model developed in this study will be useful for determining the optimal imaging techniques with sandwich detectors and their optimal design.
We revisit the doubly-layered sandwich detector configuration for single-shot dual-energy x-ray imaging. In order to understand its proper operation, we investigated the contrast-to-noise performance in terms of the x-ray beam setup using the Monte Carlo methods. Using a pair of active photodiode arrays coupled to phosphor screens, we have built a sandwich detector. For better spectral separation between the projection images obtained from the front and rear detectors during a single x-ray exposure, we inserted a copper sheet between two detectors. We have successfully obtained soft tissue- and bone-enhanced images for a postmortem mouse with the developed sandwich detector using weighted logarithmic subtraction, and the image quality was comparable to those achieved by the conventional kVp-switching technique. Although some problems to be mitigated for the optimal and practical use, for example, the scatter effect and image registration, are still left, the performance of the sandwich detector for single-shot dual-energy x-ray imaging is promising. We expect that the active sandwich detector will provide motion-artifact-free dual-energy images with a reasonable image quality.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.