X-ray device uses nanotubes

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a UNC start-up company, Xintek, have invented a new X-ray device based on carbon nanotubes that emits a scanning X-ray beam composed of multiple smaller beams while also remaining stationary.

As a result, the device can create images of objects from numerous angles and without mechanical motion, which is a distinct advantage for any machine since it increases imaging speed, can reduce the size of the device and requires less maintenance.

Carbon nanotube field emitters are used in the X-ray device as the electron source. In use, the device can readily produce both continuous and pulsed x-ray (>100KHz) with a programmable wave form and repetition rate and can produce sufficient x-ray intensity to image the human anatomy.

A report on the invention appears in this week’s issue of Applied Physics Letters, a science and technology journal. The physicists already have received US patents on elements of the work and expect more to be granted.