Evaluation of a novel low light level (L3 vision) CCD technology for application to diffraction enhanced breast imaging

This work evaluates the potential of low-light level CCD (L3CCD, E2V Technologies Ltd) technology in mammographic X-ray diffraction imaging. The L3CCD camera applies gain before readout, thereby amplifying the signal without increasing read noise. This allows very small signals to be seen. A 1 cm2 Gd2O2S:Eu coated L3CCD camera operated at −5°C was used. ffraction profiles of healthy and diseased breast tissue differ significantly. These differences are being exploited to create a higher tissue contrast than seen in conventional transmission mammography. inary experiments at the Elettra synchrotron radiation source in Trieste have investigated the degree of image contrast achievable in breast tissue diffraction images. A human breast tissue phantom was scanned at various momentum transfer values to produce diffraction images using L3CCD camera. Results demonstrate that a significant contrast enhancement is achievable.