Low dose mammography system
AssigneePrimeX
InventorsSukhdev R. Sharma, George E. Wesbey, Stephen Gaalema, John A. Minteer
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Abstract
The x-ray imaging system comprises an x-ray source for producing an x-ray beam and an x-ray detector. The x-ray detector comprises a solid state integrated circuit having a silicon substrate. The detector is constructed as a PiN diode with the voltage bias direction parallel to the direction of incident radiation. A tissue sample, such as a breast, is positioned between the x-ray source and x-ray detector. The x-ray detector directly receives the x-ray photons transmitted through the tissue and produces electrical signals. The detector signals are processed to provide a digital image of the tissue sample.
Claims23
An x-ray mammography system comprising:
- an x-ray source generating x-rays along an emission axis;
- a breast holder, to hold a breast in position to be exposed to x-rays from said x-ray source;
- a semiconductor detector to directly detect x-rays from said x-ray source, wherein said semiconductor detector comprises:
- a layer comprising a sensor to directly detect said x-rays from said breast;
- a readout chip interconnected with said layer;
- wherein said sensor comprises:
- a PiN detector having a first terminal surface positioned so as to be exposed to x-rays with said emission axis orthogonal to said first terminal surface.
A method of imaging a breast, comprising the steps of:
- generating a beam of x-rays along an emission axis;
- exposing said breast to said beam of x-rays;
- directly detecting x-rays from said breast with a silicon semiconductor detector having a layer having one or more sensors positioned to directly detect said x-rays from said breast, with said silicon semiconductor detector formed as a PiN detector having a first surface positioned so as to be exposed to said generated beam of x-rays and having a second surface parallel to said first surface and disposed 0.5 millimeter or more from said first surface, wherein said first surface is positioned to be orthogonal to said emission axis.
A method of imaging a breast, comprising the steps of:
- generating a beam of x-rays along an emission axis;
- exposing said breast to said beam of x-rays;
- directly detecting x-rays from said breast with a semiconductor detector having a layer having one or more sensors to directly detect said x-rays from said breast, with said semiconductor detector formed as a PiN detector, and operated to have a voltage bias along a bias axis, with said bias axis parallel to said emission axis.
An x-ray mammography system comprising:
- an x-ray source, in a source housing with a source aperture scannable in a linear direction, generating x-rays along an emission axis;
- a breast holder, to hold a breast in position to be exposed to x-rays from the x-ray source;
- a semiconductor detector, in a detector housing with a detector aperture scannable in a linear direction, to directly detect x-rays from the x-ray source, wherein the semiconductor detector comprises:
- a layer comprising a sensor to directly detect the x-rays from said breast;
- a readout chip interconnected with said layer, wherein the sensor comprises:
- a PiN detector having a first terminal positioned so as to be exposed to x-rays with said emission axis orthogonal to the first terminal surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.