Plastic X-ray detector is suitable for medical use

The proof-of-concept device, developed at Netherlands’ Holst Centre and Belgium’s Imec, is claimed to deliver high-resolution, dynamic images at 25 frames per second (fps) and 200 pixels per inch (ppi) with high contrast using medical-level X-ray doses.

Digital X-ray systems offer a number of benefits over older, analogue systems in that images are available faster, are easier to share and can be achieved using less radiation. According to a joint statement, today’s digital X-ray sensors are still produced on large glass substrates, making them heavy, difficult to transport and prone to breakages.

In 2012, the team demonstrated the world’s first complete X-ray detector produced on a thin plastic substrate. An indirect flat panel detector (FPD), it combined a standard scintillator with a novel organic photodiode layer and organic thin-film transistor (TFT) backplane. By using solution-processed organic semiconductor rather than the usual amorphous silicon, the team reduced process temperatures to be compatible with plastic film substrates. They also eliminated a number of lithography steps, thereby potentially lowering production costs.