From 2016 Digital Imaging – Improving Inspection in Evolving Industries Paper Summaries, 25–26 July 2016.
ISBN: 978-1-57117-410-9.
Copyright © 2016 by The American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc.
Modular Strip Detector Development Testing for Digital Radiography
Modular Strip Detector Development Testing for Digital Radiography
D. Shedlock1, M. Hu2, J. Star-Lack3, D. Humber3, and D. Nisius2
D. Shedlock,1 M. Hu, 2
J. Star-Lack3, D. Humber3, and D. Nisius2
1
Varian Medical Systems
1 8712 Barbee Lane
Varian Medical Systems
Knoxville, TN 37923
8712 Barbee Lane
(865) 560-664; fax (650) 251-5501; e-mail [Link]@[Link]
Knoxville, TN 37923
(865) 560-664; fax (650) 251-5501; e-mail [Link]@[Link]
2
Varian Medical Systems
2425 Barclay Boulevard
Varian Medical Systems
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
425 Barclay Boulevard
(847) 279-5113; e-mail [Link]@[Link],
Lincolnshire, IL [Link]@[Link]
(847) 279-5113; e-mail [Link]@[Link], [Link]@[Link]
3
Varian Medical Systems
3
3120 Medical
Varian Hansen Way
Systems
Palo Alto,
3120 CA 94304
Hansen Way
(650) 251-5544; e-mail [Link]@[Link], [Link]@[Link]
Palo Alto, CA 94304
(650) 251-5544; e-mail [Link]@[Link], [Link]@[Link]
ABSTRACT
Varian is developing a strip detector based on its amorphous silicon (a-Si) technology that will be modular and
highly configurable such that it can be used in a wide range of industrial and security imaging applications of
various energies and dose levels. The imager will accept both 1D and 2D scintillating arrays and well as standard
scintillators. Currently, we are testing a variety of scintillators for comparison that include DRZ+, CsI, CdWO4, and
scintillating glass arrays. Preliminary results have been obtained for a polished CdWO4 array with a 1.6 mm pixel
pitch, 3 mm thickness, and with 26.5 !m septa separating the pixels. A polished scintillating glass array with 1.176
mm pitch, 3 mm thickness, and 26.5 !m septa has also been tested. The a-Si receptor is a modified 1515DXT-I
imager with a standard 127 !m pitch, but will be able to run in excess of 200 frames per second (fps) and in highest
resolution mode and at over 600 fps in 2x2 binning mode allowing for imaging to occur on a pulse-to-pulse basis for
most accelerators. The module will be designed to be tiled for scaling to large field of view applications. The x-ray
source is an HPX 450-11 tube for the kV measurements.
Measurements for CNR will be performed per the ASTM E2737 for the different scintillators at 320 kV, 450 kV and
in the future at 950 kV. Additionally, contrast improvement will be demonstrated for real-time motion radiography
using a shift and stitch time integration technique.
For most measurements, unless otherwise noted, the source to object distance (SOD) was 80 cm and the source to
imager distance (SID) was 128.6 cm with a geometric magnification of 1.6. Preliminary results at 450 kV with the
1mm focal spot show that the 1.6 mm pitch CdWO4 array can achieve 1-4T sensitivity through 4 inches of steel with
a CNR of 5.23, and 1-1T is visible with a CNR of 3.09 with a 180 second exposure. For comparison, 1-4T hole was
only barely indicated with 0.91 CNR for a 180 second exposure at the same dose rate for DRZ+. Additional results
will be presented and discussed in detail for the other scintillators and energies.
Keywords: Strip, Detector, Speed, Radiography, High, Energy, Dose, Modular
MOTIVATION
Industrial and security imaging covers a wide range of applications with many different requirements. Inspection
energies for x-ray imaging for digital radiography (DR) can vary between 25 kV through 15 MV. Additionally,
resolution requirements can range from tens of microns to several centimeters. Types of acquisitions may include
line scanning for 1D, 2D, and 3D imaging, multiple lines for time delayed integration (TDI), or computed
tomography (CT) acquisitions for 2D fan beam and 3D cone beam CT (CBCT). Acquisition times can range from
minutes to acquire a single frame, or as fast as milliseconds.
Copyright 2016. This paper is intended for the sole use of registered attendees. No part of this publication or its contents may be copied, uploaded to the internet, or stored in any shared retrieval system.
37
DESIGN CONFIGURATIONS
In order to meet many of these requirements, Varian is developing a modular strip detector based on a modified 15
cm x 15 cm DR imager. Modifications will include multiple gain modes and the addition of new zoom modes.
Some of these modes allow for the reading of large areas (grouped pixels) in a column format. Because the number
of pixels being read is 1D, it is possible to obtain frame rates up to 600 fps. This is key for many line scanning
applications, especially high energy (HE) that operate at 300 fps, typical of linear accelerator pulse repetition rates.
The design allows for the use of traditional GOS conversion screens as well as a variety of 1D and 2D array
configurations.
1D Array Configuration, Side Entry
One possible configuration is shown in Figure 1, where a 1D array would side couple to an amorphous silicon flat
panel (a-Si FP) imager. This has the advantage of being able to couple large 1D arrays to a-Si while moving all the
electronics out of the direct beam to allow for shielding of the electronics and extended life. Because the readout is
being made along 1 column in large area, the expected readout speed is about 600 fps. One possible example of how
this configuration could be used for cargo scanning is shown in Figure 2. This type of configuration can also be for
HE fan beam CT reconstruction configuration where the imager would subject to HE and high dose rates.
Figure 1: Modify 1515DXT to allow Figure 2: Example of modular design configuration
side x-ray entry of “side entry” panel to cover a large area
1D, 2D, or TDI Array Configuration, Front Entry
Another possible configuration would be the front entry 1D
array or 2D array. This configuration may be selected if the
application would benefit from time delay integration (TDI)1,2
imaging. TDI is applicable for increasing scanning speed,
improving contrast to noise ratio (CNR) and increasing the
signal to noise ratio (SNR). Resolution in this configuration can
vary from centimeters to ~127 microns, the inherent resolution
of a-Si FP imager. For larger arrays, a support structure can be
added as shown in Figure 3. Arrays up to 4 mm in thick can be
placed under the standard cover and depending on the
application be held in place with compression.
Figure 3: Front entry prototype module
for 1D, 2D, or TDI imaging.
38
EXPERIMENT SETUPS
A 1515DXT Pax Scan Imager was modified to include a fast 2-D zoom mode (100x1152) which was read out at
100Hz and scintillators were switched in and out for our measurements. The x-ray source for the 320 and 450 kV
measurements was 450 kV HPX-450-11. Different scintillators were tested including a standard scintillator,
DRZ+TM, a scintillating glass3,4 array of LKH5 and a cadmium tungstate array. The scintillating glass has a density
of 3.8 g/cm3 and light output in green spectrum (~550 nm) with a yield of about 4000 photons/MeV of absorbed
dose. The polished glass array had a pitch of 1.176 mm, was 3 mm deep, with 26.5 !m septa that are optically non-
transmissive separating the pixels. The polished CdWO4 array had a 1.6 mm pitch, was 3 mm deep, with 26.5 !m
non-transmissive septa. CdWO4 has a density of 7.9 g/cm3 with a light yield of about 13000 photons/MeV5 of
absorbed dose. Photographs of both arrays are shown in Figure 4. For most measurements, unless otherwise noted,
the source to object distance (SOD) was 80 cm and the source to imager distance (SID) was 128.6 cm with a
geometric magnification of 1.6. The exposure time was 6 minutes.
(left) (right)
Figure 4: Photography of CdWO4 array (left) and the LKH5 glass array (right)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
TDI Example
An example of the a-Si FP imager being used in TDI mode is shown in Figure 6. The penetrameters are imaged at
450 kV, 3 mA through 1 inch of steel. The relative motion was 12.7 mm/s. The top image is a single frame with a
CNR measurement of 1.40 between ROI 3 and 4. The bottom image is the integration of 200 frames during the
motion. The CNR between ROIs 1 and 2 is 12.3, demonstrating that the imager can be used in a TDI mode.
Figure 6: (top) single frame exposure through 1 inch of steel, moving at 12.7 mm/s, 200 fps, 450 kV, 3 mA
(bot) TDI integrated image for 1 second.
39
320 kV Results
The maximum penetration measured at 320 kV was 3.5 inches. Both the 1-2T
and 1-4T were easily visible with respective CNRs of 2.26 and 2.81 for
cadmium tungstate strip array. The CNR results are summarized in Table 1 for Table
1
:
3.5
Inches
of
Steel
CdWO4 array and 3.5 inches of steel. No other scintillators tested were able to 320
kV,
CdWO4
array
achieve significant CNR on 1T holes through 3.5 inches of steel at 320 kV. A ASTM
Hole
CNR
sample image is shown in Figure 7 with some of the ROIs for the CNR
1-‐2T
2.26
measurements are marked. No processing was performed on any of the images
other than window and level for any of the images. 1-‐4T
2.81
2-‐1T
3.33
At 3.0 inches of steel both the DRZ+ and LKH5 scintillating glass were able to 2-‐2T
4.93
resolve 2T holes, however, only the LKH5 was able to resolve the 1-2T and 1-
4T holes. For the 2% penetrameter, both the LKH5 and DRZ+ were able to 2-‐4T
6.20
resolve all the penetrameter holes, however, the LKH5 array did have significantly better CNR for smaller holes.
Note that the DRZ data was taken in a narrow strip detector format, while the LKH5 glass array was taken in
standard readout mode, however this only impacts the maximum achievable framerate. Sample images are shown in
Figure 8 and summary of the CNR data is given in Table 2. No processing was performed on any of the images
other than window and level. It should also be noted that all exposures were 6 minutes while the CdWO4 array
exposure was only 3 minutes. While the CdWO4 has very good CNR for the larger holes, the larger pitch reduces the
ability of the array to resolve the smaller the 1% holes resulting in lower CNR for the 1-2T hole.
Figure 7: CWO4 array, 3.5 inches of steel, 320 kV
(left) (right)
Figure 8: LKH5 Glass Array (left) and DRZ+ (right) for 3 inches of steel at 320 kV.
40
Table
2
:
Comparison
of
CdWO4,
LKH5
(3
mm)
and
DRZ+
for
3
inches
of
steel
at
320
kV
ASTM
Hole
*CdWO4
DRZ+
LHK5
Array
CNR
CNR
CNR
1-‐2T
NA
NA
1.60
1-‐4T
1.01
1.03
2.11
2-‐1T
4.81
2.71
3.49
2-‐2T
5.31
2.82
4.03
2-‐4T
6.03
3.11
3.11
* CdWO4 – Exposure time about ½ the other exposures, however the poor CNR on the 1% is because of the
resolution of the larger pitched arrays.
450 kV Results
At 450 kV DRZ+ no longer has enough efficiency to detect the
hardened spectrum. A thicker scintillator is required. The LKH5 Table 3: 450 kV, 4 inches of Steel
array performed relatively well for 2 % penetrameters with greater
ASTM DRZ+ LKH5 CdWO4
than 2.5 CNR for all 2% holes, 2-2T and better. At thickness of 4
inches of steel and better CdWO4 is the best performing scintillator Holes CNR CNR CNR
for 1% and 2% holes. It is also important to note that 1.6 mm pitch 1-2T NA NA 2.67
is more than adequate resolution to achieve 1-2T sensitivity. A 1-4T NA NA 3.29
summary of the results are given in Table 3. A sample of the
images used to calculate the CNR is shown Figure 9. The DRZ+ 2-1T NA 1.53 6.68
and CdWO4 radiographs were taken in a strip detector mode setting 2-2T 1.19 2.60 7.18
with a limited field of view. 2-4T 1.17 2.67 8.89
The CdWO4 array continued to perform through 4.5 and 5 inches of steel at 450 kV. These results are summarized
in Table 4. Performance was very good through 4.5 inches steel with better than 2.5 CNR for 1-4T and all 2% holes.
Performance at 5 inches of steel was marginal. The 2-2T visibility is good with a CNR of 1.77. As shown in Figure
10, 5 inches of steel is near the performance of 3 mm thick CdWO4 array. Figure 10 shows radiographs through 4.5
and 5 inches of steel for the CdWO4 array. While the structure of the optically non-transmissive septa are clearly
visible in the images, it is believed that a non-linear gain correction would improve the overall appearance without
reduction in the demonstrated CNR.
41
(top)
(center)
(bottom)
Figure 9: CdWO4 array (top), DRZ+ (center), LKH5 Glass Array (bottom), all imaged through 4 inches of
steel, 450 kV, 6 minute exposures.
(top)
(bottom)
Figure 10: CdWO4 array through 5 inches of steel (top), CdWO4 array through 4.5 inches of steel (bottom),
450 kV, 6 minute exposures.
Table
4:
CdWO4
array,
450
kV
4.5 inches 5 inches
ASTM Steel Steel
Holes CNR CNR
1-2T 1.77 NA
1-4T 2.82 NA
2-1T 3.29 1.19
2-2T 4.00 1.77
2-4T 5.03 *NA
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
The modular strip detector unit is a versatile a-Si FP imager that can be fitted for a many different applications in
both the NDT and security inspection environments. Strip detector TDI capability has been demonstrated. One and
two percent penetrameters were measured with different scintillators from 3 inches steel up to 5 inches of steel. The
DRZ+ performance limit for penetration was found to be about 3 inches steel at both 320 and 450 kV. If thicker
pixelated scintillators are used, the working depth of penetration can be extended to almost 5 inches of steel at 450
kV. LKH5 glass arrays were found to be a cheaper option to CdWO4 arrays, but at lower CNR. However at
approximately 1/40th the CdWO4 arrays, should be considered for applications that do not require the performance of
CdWO4 arrays.
42
In addition to expanding the data set, Varian plans to test the modular strip detector with different scintillators with
the portable XP source (950 kV).
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