In the future, doctors will be able to find more tumours at an earlier stage while using a smaller X-ray dose for each examination, if researchers at Mid Sweden University have their way.
The team is leading the development of digital colour X-rays, which offer new possibilities for medical diagnoses.
Digital colour X-rays are based on the same advanced technology that is used when nuclear physicists look for new elementary particles. The great scientific challenge in constructing a colour X-ray camera is to be able to shrink the large-scale detection equipment used by nuclear physicists to the microscopic format.
The readout electronics for each pixel in the camera’s picture sensor must be squeezed into an area of 55x55 micrometres. If that’s not enough, it must be X-ray safe.
However, the Mid Sweden University researchers have solved these design problems. Furthermore, they have shown that Medipix2 – a chip that can read colours – can be used to reduce the radiation dosage in dental X-rays. They also expect to be able to use the technology to see the consistency of materials using X-rays.
“With our digital colour X-rays, it will be possible to cut the radiation risk in half for X-ray examinations,” says Swedish researcher Börje Norlin.
Using advanced computer simulations of the next generation of X-ray cameras, the researches have also
developed ways to enhance the quality of colour X-rays.
These cameras will have higher resolution and be able to show more colours of higher quality.
The technology, still in development, hopes to see the light of day in a couple of years.
source : http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmp...§id=7&contentid=200705270239478287b08ef78
The team is leading the development of digital colour X-rays, which offer new possibilities for medical diagnoses.
Digital colour X-rays are based on the same advanced technology that is used when nuclear physicists look for new elementary particles. The great scientific challenge in constructing a colour X-ray camera is to be able to shrink the large-scale detection equipment used by nuclear physicists to the microscopic format.
The readout electronics for each pixel in the camera’s picture sensor must be squeezed into an area of 55x55 micrometres. If that’s not enough, it must be X-ray safe.
However, the Mid Sweden University researchers have solved these design problems. Furthermore, they have shown that Medipix2 – a chip that can read colours – can be used to reduce the radiation dosage in dental X-rays. They also expect to be able to use the technology to see the consistency of materials using X-rays.
“With our digital colour X-rays, it will be possible to cut the radiation risk in half for X-ray examinations,” says Swedish researcher Börje Norlin.
Using advanced computer simulations of the next generation of X-ray cameras, the researches have also
developed ways to enhance the quality of colour X-rays.
These cameras will have higher resolution and be able to show more colours of higher quality.
The technology, still in development, hopes to see the light of day in a couple of years.
source : http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmp...§id=7&contentid=200705270239478287b08ef78