Field Shaping Scintillator-coupled High-gain Avalanche Rushing Photoconductor (SHARP) for Active Matrix Flat Panel Imager (AMFPI): Towards Large-Area, High-Efficiency, and Low-Dose X-ray Imaging

State University New York Stony Brook, Stony Brook NY

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Abstract

Abstract The eld of medical x-ray imaging experienced a \digital revolution in the early 2000s, with the spreading of digital radiography (DR) systems which are based on active matrix at panel imagers (AMFPI). Since then we have seen rapid development and clinical translation of large-area AMFPI based on amorphous silicon (a-Si) active matrix technology. Because of their compact size, rapid image readout and excellent image quality, AMFPI is being used not only for traditional x-ray imaging modalities such as general radiography and uoroscopy, but also in tomographic imaging applications including cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and digital tomosynthesis. It is believed that AMFPI will become the dominant detector technology for x-ray imaging. However before AMFPI can equal the performance of the x-ray image intensi er (XRII) in uoroscopy, they have one major diculty to overcome: producing x-ray quantum noise limited images at very low dose, such as in the dark part of a uoroscopy image (0.1 R per frame). Our hypothesis is that an indirect-conversion x-ray at-panel imager with avalanche gain and cadmium selenide (CdSe) photoelectric conversion layer will provide an enormous dynamic range and eciency that permits x-ray quantum noise limited performance from a single x-ray photon level in low-dose uoroscopy all the way to high dose radiography. The objective of this proposal is therefore to fabricate and test a prototype high-eciency at-panel x-ray imaging detector with avalanche gain. Conceptu- ally the proposed detector employs four major components: (1) a structured cesium iodide (CsI) scintillator to convert x-rays to optical photons; (2) an ultra-high eciency CdSe photoelectric conversion layer to convert the optical image to charge; (3) eld shaping avalanche amorphous sele- nium (a-Se) photoconductor, called eld shaping HARP (High-gain Avalanche Rushing amorphous Photoconductor), to amplify charge via avalanche multiplication gain; and (4) a large area active matrix (AM) thin lm transistor (TFT) array to read out the image electronically in real-time. The proposed detector is known as \ eld shaping SHARP-AMFPI (Scintillator-HARP Active Matrix Flat-Panel Imager). Successful development of eld-shaping SHARP-AMFPI will lead to the clinical-translation ready, practical low-dose x-ray imaging technology, which will be the rst ever large area solid-state detector with stable avalanche gain. 1