A digital mammography system based on GaAs pixel detector has been developed by the INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) collaboration MED46. The high atomic number makes the GaAs a very efficient material for low energy X-rays detection (10 - 30 keV is the typical energy range used in mammography). Low contrast details can be detected with a significant dose reduction to the patient. The system presented in this paper consists of a 4096 pixel matrix built on a 200 mu m thick Semi Insulating GaAs substrate. The pixel size is 170 x 170 mu m(2) for a total active area of 1.18 cm(2). The detector is bump-bonded to a VLSI Front-End chip which implements a single-photon counting architecture. This feature allows to enhance the radiographic contrasts detection with respect to charge integrating devices. The system has been tested by using a standard mammographic tube. Images of mammographic phantoms will be presented and compared with radiographs obtained with traditional :film/screen systems. Monte Carlo simulations have been also performed to evaluate the imaging capability of the system. Comparison with simulations and experimental results will be shown.
Amendolia, S.R., Bisogni, M.G., Bottigli, U., Ciocci, M.A., Delogu, P., Dipasquale, G., et al. (2000). Low contrast imaging with a GaAs pixel digital detector. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NUCLEAR SCIENCE, 47(4), 1478-1482 [10.1109/23.873000].
Low contrast imaging with a GaAs pixel digital detector
Bottigli, U.;Delogu, P.;Maestro, P.;
2000-01-01
Abstract
A digital mammography system based on GaAs pixel detector has been developed by the INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) collaboration MED46. The high atomic number makes the GaAs a very efficient material for low energy X-rays detection (10 - 30 keV is the typical energy range used in mammography). Low contrast details can be detected with a significant dose reduction to the patient. The system presented in this paper consists of a 4096 pixel matrix built on a 200 mu m thick Semi Insulating GaAs substrate. The pixel size is 170 x 170 mu m(2) for a total active area of 1.18 cm(2). The detector is bump-bonded to a VLSI Front-End chip which implements a single-photon counting architecture. This feature allows to enhance the radiographic contrasts detection with respect to charge integrating devices. The system has been tested by using a standard mammographic tube. Images of mammographic phantoms will be presented and compared with radiographs obtained with traditional :film/screen systems. Monte Carlo simulations have been also performed to evaluate the imaging capability of the system. Comparison with simulations and experimental results will be shown.
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https://hdl.handle.net/11365/27361