According to Samsung, to create this product, it attached photodiodes to a thin-film-transistor (TFT) substrate that was produced using amorphous silicon technology. In the detector, the X-rays photons are detected and converted into visible light, which in turn is converted to electrical signals that can be displayed as diagnostic images on a flat panel screen. The company claims that it also eliminates the digital image noise interference to give the industry’s highest radiographic sensitivity.
The medical professions still reply on plastic-based analog film for X-ray photography applications, which take time to develop. The company said that its flat panel X-ray detector (FPXD) imaging sensor does not require film or development process and can save time and money for medical labs.
It measures 45cm widex46cm high, and has a 3072×3072 (9.4 megapixels) resolution for ultra-high definition images. Samsung said that it can be used in advanced diagnostics such as CAT scans, for building inspections (scanning rebar structures) and for airport security scanners. The device will be available worldwide at the beginning of first quarter 2008.
Yoon Jin-hyuk, executive vice president and chief of the mobile LCD division at Samsung Electronics said: The analog film camera market almost completely switched over to digital cameras within a decade. The X-ray detector market should move even faster and become completely digitized within a few years.
In November 2007, Samsung’s rival, Siemens launched a new digital X-ray system equipped with a portable, wireless detector that transmits images directly to a server. The device can be positioned for the convenience of the patient without the need to move to the imaging table.
Source: ComputerWire daily updates
