Pieter Gerhard Roos

Multiple-gain-ranging readout method to extend the dynamic range of amorphous silicon flat-panel imagers

The dynamic range of many flat panel imaging systems are fundamentally limited by the dynamic range of the charge amplifier and readout signal processing. We developed two new flat panel readout methods that achieve extended dynamic range by changing the read out charge amplifier feedback capacitance dynamically and on a real-time basis. In one method, the feedback capacitor is selected automatically by a level sensing circuit, pixel-by-pixel, based on its exposure level. Alternatively, capacitor selection is driven externally, such that each pixel is read out two (or more) times, each time with increased feedback capacitance. Both methods allow the acquisition of X-ray image data with a dynamic range approaching the fundamental limits of flat panel pixels. Data with an equivalent bit depth of better than 16 bits are made available for further image processing. Successful implementation of these methods requires careful matching of selectable capacitor values and switching thresholds, with the imager noise and sensitivity characteristics, to insure X-ray quantum limited operation over the whole extended dynamic range. Successful implementation also depends on the use of new calibration methods and image reconstruction algorithms, to insure artifact free rebuilding of linear image data by the downstream image processing systems. The multiple gain ranging flat panel readout method extends the utility of flat panel imagers and paves the way to new flat panel applications, such as cone beam CT. We believe that this method will provide a valuable extension to the clinical application of flat panel imagers.

Design and performance of a new a-Si flat-panel imager for use in cardiovascular and mobile C-arm imaging systems

This paper describes a new flat panel imager designed for use in cardiovascular and mobile C-arm imaging systems. The a-Si sensor array has a 1024 x 1024 matrix with a pixel pitch of 194 μm, resulting in an active area of 198.7 mm x 198.7 mm. The imager allows frame rates of up to 30 fps in full resolution fluoroscopy mode and up to 60 fps in a 2 x 2 binned low dose fluoroscopy mode. Typically, a 600 μm thick deposited columnar CsI(Tl) layer is used as the scintillator. Improvements in the pixel architecture, charge amplifier ASICs, and system level electronics resulted in a very low electronic noise floor, such that both the fluoroscopy and low dose fluoroscopy modes of the panel are x-ray quantum limited below 1 μR/frame. Low power consumption electronics combined with a mechanical design optimized for heat transfer and dissipation makes air-cooling sufficient for most environments. The small size of 24.1 x 24.1 x 6 cm and the weight of only 4.1 kg meet the requirements of C-Arm systems. Special consideration was given to the border around the active area, which has been reduced to 2 cm. Reported performance parameters include linearity, lag, contrast ratio, MTF, and DQE. For the full resolution mode, the MTF is greater than 0.53 and 0.21 at 1 and 2 lp/mm, respectively. DQE measured at 22 nGy/frame was greater than 0.68, 0.50, and 0.23 at 0, 1, and 2 lp/mm, respectively.

Multidetector-row CT with a 64–row amorphous silicon flat panel detector

A unique 64-row flat panel (FP) detector has been developed for sub-second multidetector-row CT (MDCT). The intent was to explore the image quality achievable with relatively inexpensive amorphous silicon (a-Si) compared to existing diagnostic scanners with discrete crystalline diode detectors. The FP MDCT system is a bench-top design that consists of three FP modules. Each module uses a 30 cm x 3.3 cm a-Si array with 576 x 64 photodiodes. The photodiodes are 0.52 mm x 0.52 mm, which allows for about twice the spatial resolution of most commercial MDCT scanners. The modules are arranged in an overlapping geometry, which is sufficient to provide a full-fan 48 cm diameter scan. Scans were obtained with various detachable scintillators, e.g. ceramic Gd2O2S, particle-in-binder Gd2O2S:Tb and columnar CsI:Tl. Scan quality was evaluated with a Catphan-500 performance phantom and anthropomorphic phantoms. The FP MDCT scans demonstrate nearly equivalent performance scans to a commercial 16-slice MDCT scanner at comparable 10 - 20 mGy/100mAs doses. Thus far, a high contrast resolution of 15 lp/cm and a low contrast resolution of 5 mm @ 0.3 % have been achieved on 1 second scans. Sub-second scans have been achieved with partial rotations. Since the future direction of MDCT appears to be in acquiring single organ coverage per scan, future efforts are planned for increasing the number of detector rows beyond the current 64- rows.

Flat panel CT detectors for sub-second volumetric scanning

This paper explores the potential of flat panel detectors in sub-second CT scanning applications. Using a PaxScan 4030CB with 600um thick CsI(Tl), a central section of the panel (16 to 32 rows), was scanned at frame rates up to 1000fps. Using this platform, fundamental issues related to high speed scanning were characterized. The offset drift of the imager over 60 seconds was found to be less than 0.014 ppm/sec relative to full scale. The gain stability over a 10 hour period is better than +/- .45%, which is at the resolution limit of the measurement. Two different types of lag measurements were performed in order to separate the photodiode array lag from the CsI afterglow. The panel lag was found to be 0.41% 1st frame and 0.054% 25th frame at 1000fps. The CsI(Tl) afterglow, however, is roughly an order of magnitude higher, dominating the lag for sub-second scans. At 1000fps the 1st frame lag due to afterglow was 3.3% and the 25th frame lag was 0.34%. Both the lag and afterglow are independent of signal level and each follows a simple power law evolution versus time. Reconstructions of anatomical phantoms and the CATPHAN 500 phantom are presented. With a 2 second, 1200 projection scan of the CATPHAN phantom at 600fps in 32 slice mode, using 120kVp and CTDI100 of 43.2mGy, 0.3% contrast resolution for a 6mm diameter target, can be visualized. In addition, 15lp/cm spatial resolution was achieved with a 2mm slice and a central CTDI100 of 10.8mGy.

Improved DQE by means of X-ray spectra and scintillator optimization for FFDM

The focus of this work was to improve the DQE performance of a full-field digital mammography (FFDM) system by means of selecting an optimal X-ray tube anode-filter combination in conjunction with an optimal scintillator configuration. The flat panel detector in this work is a Varian PaxScan 3024M. The detector technology is comprised of a 2816 row × 3584 column amorphous silicon (a-Si) photodiode array with a pixel pitch of 83μm. The scintillator is cesium iodide and is deposited directly onto the photodiode array and available with configurable optical and x-ray properties. Two X-ray beam spectra were generated with the anode/filter combinations, Molybdenum/Molybdenum (Mo/Mo) and Tungsten/Aluminum (W/Al), to evaluate the imaging performance of two types of scintillators, high resolution (HR) type and high light output (HL) type. The results for the HR scintillator with W/Al anode-filter (HRW/ Al) yielded a DQE(0) of 67%, while HR-Mo/Mo was lower with a DQE(0) of 50%. In addition, the DQE(0) of the HR-W/Al configuration was comparable to the DQE(0) of the HL-Mo/Mo configuration. The significance of this result is the HR type scintillator yields about twice the light output with the W/Al spectrum, at about half the dose, as compared to the Mo/Mo spectrum. The light output or sensitivity was measured in analog-to-digital convertor units (ADU) per dose. The sensitivities (ADU/uGy) were 8.6, 16.8 and 25.4 for HR-Mo/Mo, HR-W/Al, HL-Mo/Mo, respectively. The Nyquist frequency for the 83 μm pixel is 6 lp/mm. The MTF at 5 lp/mm for HR-Mo/Mo and HR-W/Al were equivalent at 37%, while the HL-Mo/Mo MTF was 24%. According to the DQE metric, the more favorable anodefilter combination was W/Al with the HR scintillator. Future testing will evaluate the HL-W/Al configuration, as well as other x-ray filters materials and other scintillator optimizations. While higher DQE values were achieved, the more general conclusion is that the imaging performance can be tuned as required by the application by modifying optical and x-ray properties of the scintillator to match the spectral output of the chosen anode-filter combination.

WE‐D‐332‐01: Advances in Sub‐Second CT Scanning with a 64‐Row Amorphous Silicon Flat Panel Imager

Purpose: To increase the data acquisition speed and detection limits of amorphous silicon flat panels for use in a low cost multidetector‐row CT (MDCT) scanner with diagnostic image quality. Method and Materials: A bench‐top sub‐second flat panel (FP) multidetector‐row CTsystem has been developed using three 64‐row FP detectors. Each FP is 30 cm × 3.3 cm in active area with 576 × 64 pixels that are 0.52 mm per side. A high degree of parallel processing is used to speed the data acquisition from the panels. Dynamic gain operation of the ASIC readout amplifiers has been used to improve noise performance over the previous fixed gain mode. The system has been tested with various detachable scintillators and scans of performance and anthropomorphic phantoms are compared with their diagnostic MDCT scans. Results: The 64‐row FP MDCT system can achieve full rotation 660 projection scans in 1 seconds. A 0.3 second partial rotation scan can be achieved with 32 rows by row binning. The image quality of 20 cm diameter performance phantom scans is comparable to a commercial MDCT scanner with similar technique/dose. Medium sized body scans are nearly comparable except for slight artifacts due to panel overlaps and lag. Large body phantom scans have improved with increased dynamic range provided by the readout ASICs dynamic gain mode. Conclusion: The results indicate the potential for FP MDCT to be used as a less expensive and less complex alternative to crystalline silicon detectors on MDCT scanners. There is pressure to increase the number of MDCT rows beyond 64 in cardiac imaging to achieve single organ coverage in one scan rotation. The use of larger area FP detectors to achieve greater than 256 rows exists and the sub second speed can be achieved with compensations and a high degree of parallel processing.