X-rays are a common component of diagnostic testing and industrial control, and are used for everything from checking your teeth to scanning your suitcase at the airport. But these High energy rays also produce radiationwhich can be dangerous after prolonged or excessive exposure.
Now, a team of scientists has published in ACS Central Science the development of a new, safer x-ray system using a highly sensitive and foldable detector that produces good quality images with smaller doses of the rays.
“This advance reduces detection limits and paves the way for safer and more energy-efficient medical imaging and industrial control – explains Omar F. Mohammed, leader of the study -. It demonstrates that devices designed in cascade improve the capabilities of single crystals in X-ray detection”.
Like visible light and radio waves, x-rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation. Their high energy state allows them to pass through most objects, including the soft tissues of our body. For produce an x-ray image (an x-ray), the rays pass through the body and appear as shadowed shapes in the image, or become trapped in denser tissues such as bone, leaving behind a brighter white area.
The amount of radiation a patient is exposed to during a single scan is not dangerous, and one would have to undergo thousands of scans to begin to notice the cumulative effects. However, These repeated exposures to high-energy rays can damage electronic equipment or pose a risk to someone like an X-ray technician. So the fewer rays used during a scan, the better, right?
Unfortunately, fewer rays mean a lower quality x-ray. But By increasing the sensitivity of the detector, a high-quality, low-dose x-ray could theoretically be produced. With this premise, Mohammed’s team designed a device that facilitates these safer X-ray conditions.
To increase the sensitivity of the X-ray detector, aimed to minimize dark current (residual background noise) generated by the device. To do this, they created detectors using specialized methylammonium lead bromide perovskite crystals, and then connected the crystals in an electrical configuration known as a cascade.
The cascade configuration almost halved the dark current, which improved the detection limit of X-rays by five times compared to previous detectors made with the same crystals but without the cascade.
X-rays taken with the new detector revealed fine details, such as a metal needle piercing a raspberry and the internal components of a USB cable. The team claims that this technology is a promising method to develop commercial foldable x-ray devicessafer and more sensitive, which would serve to minimize radiation exposure during medical procedures and capture subtle details in industrial monitoring.