Low-Dose High-Resolution Dental Radiography

描述（由申请人提供）：我们正在开发一种高分辨率、低剂量、直接转换的数字x射线探测器，用于口腔内牙科x线摄影。该检测器将以低剂量、高分辨率和低成本改善口腔内牙科成像。它可以整合到现有的牙科放射照相设备中，取代基于胶片或闪烁体的系统。当前闪烁体- ccd或闪烁体- cmos光电二极管阵列x射线探测器的剂量效率受到x射线到光的低效转换、光到探测器的传输以及光到电信号的转换的影响。我们成功地开发了一种新的直接x射线转换材料——多晶碘化汞（HgI2），它是一种具有优异电荷收集性能的高z大带隙化合物半导体。所提出的探测器是一种多晶碘化汞薄膜，用于将入射的x射线直接转换为电荷，直接生长在CMOS读出器上。由于碘化汞薄膜的灵敏度很高，因此可以减少剂量。我们希望向现有的口腔内牙科成像设备供应商出售或许可我们的探测器技术。在项目的第一阶段，我们将多晶HgI2直接生长在我们的小面积CMOS读出芯片上，我们专门设计了与HgI2兼容的芯片。我们测量了原型器件的成像性能。在第二阶段，我们将把CMOS芯片放大到牙齿尺寸2，将CMOS读出器放入适合口腔内使用的封装中，进一步修改HgI2沉积以提高空间分辨率，并完成并测试一个完整的产品原型。我们将开发的产品将帮助牙医检测发际线裂缝和其他高分辨率特征，而患者将受益于减少终身x射线剂量。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We are developing a high-resolution, low-dose, direct-conversion digital x-ray detector for intraoral dental radiography. The detector will improve intraoral dental imaging with reduced dose, high resolution, and low detector cost. It can be incorporated into existing dental radiography equipment, replacing film-based or scintillator-based systems. The dose efficiency of current scintillator-CCD or scintillator-CMOS photodiode array x-ray detectors is compromised by inefficient conversion of x-rays to light, transport of the light to the detector, and conversion of the light to electric signal. We have successfully developed a new direct x-ray converter material, polycrystalline mercuric iodide (HgI2), which is a high-Z large- bandgap compound semiconductor with outstanding charge collection properties. The proposed detector is a thin film of polycrystalline mercuric iodide for direct conversion of incident x-rays into charge, grown directly onto a CMOS readout. Dose reduction will be achieved due to the very high sensitivity of mercuric iodide films. We expect to sell or license our detector technology to existing intraoral dental imaging equipment vendors. In Phase I of the project, we grew polycrystalline HgI2 directly onto our small- area CMOS readout chip, which we specially designed for compatibility with HgI2. We measured the imaging performance of the prototype device. In this Phase II we will scale the CMOS chip up to dental Size 2, place the CMOS readout into a package suitable for intraoral use, further modify the HgI2 deposition to improve spatial resolution, and complete and test a full product prototype. The product we will develop will help dentists detect hairline cracks and other high-resolution features while patients will benefit from a reduced lifetime x-ray dose. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: We will produce an improved x-ray detector for intraoral dental radiography. The detector will reduce the x-ray dose that dental patients receive during their exam while providing dentists with high resolution images at a low cost. The semiconductor-based detector can be incorporated into existing dental radiography equipment, replacing film-based or scintillator-based systems.