PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | February 24, 2010
Proc. SPIE. 7557, Multimodal Biomedical Imaging V
KEYWORDS: GRIN lenses, Scanners, X-rays, Radiography, Image resolution, Chromium, Laser scanners, Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, 3D scanning, X-ray imaging
Although vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) have traditionally found their place in high-speed
communication links, the recent advancements of VCSELs emitting in the visible spectrum has sparked interest
for new applications in scanning and imaging. Compared to other lasers, VCSELs have many advantageous
characteristics including compact size, low power requirements, low cost, and high reliability. VCSELs also offer
the unique ability to be fabricated in one- or two-dimensional arrays, making it possible for multiple VCSELs on
a single chip to perform the same function as a mechanically scanned beam. One such application is computed
radiography (CR), which provides an efficient solution for digitizing and electronically storing x-ray images. In
this work, we demonstrate a 1-inch prototype CR scanner based on high-density VCSEL arrays. The device is
capable of generating very fast scans with no moving parts, and has the potential to increase throughput, stability,
and image quality. In this paper, we discuss the design and performance of this scanner and demonstrate X-ray
image acquisition with resolution exceeding 5 line pairs per millimeter (lp/mm).
