Perspectives of medical X-ray imaging

While X-ray image intensifiers (XII), storage phosphor screens and film-screen systems are still the work horses of medical imaging, large flat panel solid state detectors using either scintillators and amorphous silicon photo diode arrays (FD-Si), or direct X-ray conversion in amorphous selenium are reaching maturity. The main advantage with respect to image quality and low patient dose of the XII and FD-Si systems is caused by the rise of the Detector Quantum Efficiency originating from the application of thick needle-structured phosphor X-ray absorbers. With the detectors getting closer to an optimal state, further progress in medical X-ray imaging requires an improvement of the usable source characteristics. The development of clinical monochromatic X-ray sources of high power would not only allow an improved contrast-to-dose ratio by allowing smaller average photon energies in applications but would also lead to new imaging techniques.