Ionizing Radiation Imaging System and Method With Decreased Radiation Dose

A method of imaging a volume, the method comprising:

• selecting a detector atomic species or a source atomic species;
• if said selecting step includes selecting a detector atomic species:
• identifying an absorption wavelength corresponding to an absorption edge of the detector atomic species;
• and
• in response to said identifying of the absorption wavelength and using the absorption wavelength as a guide, selecting a source atomic species to substantially match an emission wavelength corresponding to a characteristic emission peak of a source atomic species to the absorption wavelength;
• if said selecting step includes selecting a source atomic species:
• identifying an emission wavelength corresponding to a characteristic emission peak of the source atomic species;
• and
• in response to said identifying of the emission wavelength and using the emission wavelength as a guide, selecting a detector atomic species to substantially match an absorption wavelength corresponding to an absorption edge of the detector atomic species to the emission wavelength;
• including the source atomic species in a source element, the source element for delivering an ionizing radiation to the volume;
• including the detector atomic species in a detector element, the detector element configured to detect the ionizing radiation that passes through the volume;
• delivering an ionizing radiation from the source element to the volume;
• using the detector element to detect the ionizing radiation that passes through the volume;
• and
• producing an image based on the ionizing radiation detected by the detector element.

A method of producing a system for imaging a volume, the method comprising:

• selecting a detector atomic species or a source atomic species;
• if said selecting step includes selecting a detector atomic species:
• identifying an absorption wavelength corresponding to an absorption edge of the detector atomic species;
• and
• in response to said identifying of the absorption wavelength and using the absorption wavelength as a guide, selecting a source atomic species to substantially match an emission wavelength corresponding to a characteristic emission peak of a source atomic species to the absorption wavelength;
• if said selecting step includes selecting a source atomic species:
• identifying an emission wavelength corresponding to a characteristic emission peak of the source atomic species;
• and
• in response to said identifying of the emission wavelength and using the emission wavelength as a guide, selecting a detector atomic species to substantially match an absorption wavelength corresponding to an absorption edge of the detector atomic species to the emission wavelength;
• including the source atomic species in a source element, the source element for delivering an ionizing radiation to the volume;
• and
• including the detector atomic species in a detector element, the detector element configured to detect the ionizing radiation that passes through the volume.