Digital X-ray detector drivers
Digital X-ray detectors are flat panels used in radiological imaging instruments. This technology is increasingly replacing traditional film radiography because it improves the accuracy of medical images and simplifies their acquisition, storage and distribution.
A typical digital X-ray detection technique consists of an amorphous-silicon TFT-photodiode array combined with a radiation converting material (scintillator). The latter absorbs the X-rays and transforms them into visible photons which in turn are converted and stored by the photodiodes as electric charges. Each photodiode has a thin-film-transistor associated to it. Closing a line of TFT switches - each associated to a photodiode - allows to discharge the electric information onto the data columns and to read it out using dedicated electronics.
The custom silicon integrated circuits are connected along the edges of the detector matrix. On one side, control ICs provide the line scanning sequence, whereas on the other side, low-noise, high-sensitivity amplifiers perform the readout, amplification and A/D conversion. High-speed digital electronics are then used to achieve fast image acquisition and processing.
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