Towards High-Resolution X-Ray Imaging Using a Structured Scintillator

Hormozan, Yashar; Yun, Sang‐Ho; Svenonius, Olof; Linnros, Jan

doi:10.1109/tns.2011.2177477

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Since CsI:Tl has outstanding scintillating properties in comparison with other scintillators, and the filling quality by melting seems to be much better, it still qualifies as a good choice as a matrix filling material. As already observed by other groups [3], CsI:TI probably suffers from a loss of thallium during the melting process, that in turn causes a drop in light yield. We measured the optical emission spectra of the raw CsI:TI-powder and the CsI:TI filled matrix after melting (spectrometer: Ocean optics Jaz).…”

Section: Measurements and Resultssupporting

confidence: 67%

Evaluation of X-ray imaging properties of structured aluminum oxide matrices filled with different scintillator materials

Muhlbauer

Semmelroth

Krüger

et al. 2012

2012 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference Record (NSS/MIC)

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The spatial resolution of currently commercially available X-ray scintillators is limited by their thickness. For instance a scintillator with a high thickness, yields a high efficiency but suffers from a decrease in spatial resolution due to (optical) light spreading in the scintillation layer. For thinner scintillators the opposing case is observed. The filling of structures like self-organized aluminum oxide (Alox), permits the fabrication of very thick and therefore highly efficient scintillator matrices without losing spatial resolution, due to the matrix' channel-like structures which act as light guides. We filled such structured Alox-matrices with different scintillator materials with two different methods. Non-hygroscopic scintillators like GOS or LSO can by filled into the matrices by a sedimentation process, but hygroscopic materials like CsI:Tl require a 'dry' process like melting. The focus of this paper is on the evaluation of the X-ray imaging properties of these filled matrices with respect to the achievable spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. Especially for the CsI:Tl filled matrix we also studied the optical emission spectra, due to a loss of the dopant thallium during the melting process

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Section: Measurements and Resultssupporting

confidence: 67%

Evaluation of X-ray imaging properties of structured aluminum oxide matrices filled with different scintillator materials

Muhlbauer

Semmelroth

Krüger

et al. 2012

2012 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference Record (NSS/MIC)

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“…Finally, filling of the pore array mold was done by melting of powder CsI(Tl) at ∼620 • C inside the pores as described in our previous work. 11 To enable imaging with a few micron resolution, a liquid nitrogen cooled CCD camera with a 12 µm pixel size (Hamamatsu, model C4880- microscope configuration with adjustable magnification as shown schematically in Fig. 3.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[8][9][10] In order to test the limits of achievable spatial resolution with this technique, we developed structured scintillators of about one order of magnitude smaller pore pitches (1.4 and 4 µm) and investigated them in terms of wave guiding efficiency. 11 In this paper, only the results from 4 µm pitch samples are reported as the 1.4 µm pitch samples showed a significant drop in output intensity. The application of such scintillators for imaging, however, is not so straightforward, since such a pitch size is already comparable or even smaller than available CCD pixel sizes, which becomes a limiting factor for the spatial resolution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

High‐resolution x‐ray imaging using a structured scintillator

2016

Self Cite

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“…1 . For the shapes of the pores in the silicon micro-pore array templates used for scintillation screens, some are square columns 7 – 14 , some are hexagonal columns 11 , 12 , and some are circular columns 15 . However, there remains a lack of research on which type of column is more favourable to guide the scintillation light propagating along the column.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When the pitch size of the structured scintillation screen approaches the pixel size of the corresponding photoelectric device such as a CCD (charge coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor), the Moiré patterns easily occur because of the interaction between the periodic scintillation array of the CsI(Tl) screen and the pixelated photoelectric device. To avoid this effect, the pixelated CsI(Tl) screens with a hexagonal array structure were developed 11 , 12 . The effect of the array structure of the scintillation screen on the spatial resolution and detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of X-ray imaging is also worth studying.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulated performances of pixelated CsI(Tl) scintillation screens with different micro-column shapes and array structures in X-ray imaging

Chen

Liu

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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The performances of the pixelated CsI(Tl) scintillation screens based on oxidized silicon micro-pore array templates with different CsI(Tl) micro-column shapes and array structures in X-ray imaging were simulated using the Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation code. The shapes of the micro-columns include square, hexagonal and circular, and the array structures include square and hexagonal arrangements. The pitch size of the pixelated CsI(Tl) scintillation screens was set to 4 µm, and the incident X-ray energy was set to 20 keV. The ratios of the number of scintillation photons that propagate along the CsI(Tl) micro-columns to the total number of scintillation photons of the micro-columns gradually decrease with the increase in total reflection time on the lateral surfaces of the micro-columns. However, these ratios are closely related to the shapes of the micro-columns and the incident positions of X-ray on the cross-sections of the micro-columns, especially for the circular micro-column. The sequence of bottom light outputs stimulated by a uniform flood field of X-ray from high to low corresponds to the circular, square and hexagonal CsI(Tl) micro-columns with the same cross-section areas. In addition, all spatial resolutions in terms of modulation transfer functions (MTFs) for the pixelated CsI(Tl) scintillation screens with square and hexagonal array structures are over 100 lp/mm. However, the resolution for the pixelated screen with the hexagonal array structure is approximately 8.5% higher than that for the screen with the square array structure. Moreover, the former screen has a higher detective quantum efficiency (DQE) than the latter screen at the same thickness. The pixelated CsI(Tl) scintillation screen with circular micro-column and hexagonal array structure in X-ray imaging has superior performance compared to other pixelated screens in this work.

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Towards High-Resolution X-Ray Imaging Using a Structured Scintillator

Cited by 9 publications

References 8 publications

Evaluation of X-ray imaging properties of structured aluminum oxide matrices filled with different scintillator materials

Evaluation of X-ray imaging properties of structured aluminum oxide matrices filled with different scintillator materials

High‐resolution x‐ray imaging using a structured scintillator

Simulated performances of pixelated CsI(Tl) scintillation screens with different micro-column shapes and array structures in X-ray imaging

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