Digital radiography

Digital radiography is a form of X-ray imaging, where digital X-ray sensors are used instead of traditional photographic film. Advantages include time efficiency through bypassing chemical processing and the ability to digitally transfer and enhance images. Also less radiation can be used to produce an image of similar contrast to conventional radiography.

    Instead of X-ray film, digital radiography uses a digital image capture device. The gives advantages of immediate image preview and availability; elimination of costly film processing steps; a wider dynamic range, which makes it more forgiving for over- and under-exposure; as well as the ability to apply special image processing techniques that enhance overall display of the image.

   There are two major variants of digital image capture devices: flat panel detectors (FPDs) and high-density line-scan solid state detectors. FPDs are further classified in two main categories:

1. Indirect FPDs. Amorphous silicon (a-Si) is the most common material of commercial FPDs. Combining a-Si detectors with a scintillator in the detector's outer layer, which is made from caesium iodide (CsI) or gadolinium oxysulfide (Gd2O2S), converts X-rays to light. Because of this conversion the a-Si detector is considered an indirect imaging device. The light is channeled through the a-Si photodiode layer where it is converted to a digital output signal. The digital signal is then read out by thin film transistors (TFTs) or fiber-coupled CCDs. The image data file is sent to a computer for display.

2. Direct FPDs. Amorphous selenium (a-Se) FPDs are known as “direct” detectors because X-ray photons are converted directly into charge. The outer layer of the flat panel in this design is typically a high-voltage bias electrode. X-ray photons create electron-hole pairs in a-Se, and the transit of these electrons and holes depends on the potential of the bias voltage charge. As the holes are replaced with electrons, the resultant charge pattern in the selenium layer is read out by a TFT array, active matrix array, electrometer probes or microplasma line addressing.

     A high-density line-scan solid state detector is composed of a photostimulable barium fluorobromide doped with europium (BaFBr:Eu) or caesium bromide (CsBr) phosphor. The phosphor detector records the X-ray energy during exposure and is scanned by a laser diode to excite the stored energy which is released and read out by a digital image capture array of aCCD.