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Contact: Jean-Louis Amans (jean-louis.amans@cea.fr)
Better, higher-performing images for medicine, security
CdTe/CZT detectors combine Leti’s expertise in microtechnologies, system integration, and image processing. Ionizing radiation images are powerful tools for applications as diverse as medical X-rays, imaging of metabolic pathways, and nuclear- and explosive-materials detection.All these areas benefit from detectors with improved sensitivity and better spatial and spectral resolution.
Characteristics of Leti-developed CdTe/CZT detectors:
- X-ray and gamma photons are directly converted into electrical charges (no need to pass through a scintillation detector).
- As many as 30,000 charges are generated for a 14- keV X-ray photon (20 times more than a conventional detector).
Advantages of CdTe/CZT detectors:
- New detector architectures with outstanding functionality
- Both photon counting approaches and spectrometric measurements at high X-ray flux are now possible, allowing the exploitation of the multi-energy signal and thus opening the gate to new imaging system design.
- Leti's detectors use a high-density interconnect layer to pair the CdTe/CZT pixel array with conventional CMOS electronics, allowing pixel-level image processing.
- Pre-clinical imaging is one of the fastest-growing applications of gamma-ray imaging, rising from US$13M in 2002 to US$160M today. Researchers can image molecular chemistry to observe cellular metabolism. A prototype microSPECT system based on this technology is planned for 2010, and microPET detector components will be tested in 2009.
-In security applications, Leti’s CdTe/CZT detectors exceed conventional X-ray systems at identifying illicit materials by discriminating between organic and non-organic materials. These innovative detectors implement multi-energy analysis with only a single-shot X-ray source. Using transmitted X-rays to “color” an object according to its composition allows faster, more accurate screening, from luggage inspections to detection of foreign objects in food.
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