Portable digital electronic radiography system with a solid-state area-imaging detector

A digital system for radiographic inspection was constructed in a portable version suitable for field use. The system uses typical film radiography sources, including 60Co, 192Ir and X-ray generators. Radiographic images are formed using an area-imaging scintillating detector coupled to a charge-coupled device camera and a portable industrial computer. Compared to film radiography, this technology offers imaging without wet-film processing, shorter exposure times, larger dynamic range, and digital imaging that permits compact archiving, easy data access and mathematical image processing to improve sensitivity. System performance is illustrated for typical applications, i.e., for radiographing valves and pipes. Using 192Ir, the system works well on smaller water-filled valves and pipes; larger valves have to be drained. Work is under way to address this problem.