OPTICALLY NON-SCATTERING STORAGE PHOSPHOR SCREENS FOR DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY

AN EMERGING TECHNIQUE FOR RADIOGRAPHY INVOLVED THE USE OF STORAGE PHOSPHOR SYSTEMS. WITH THESE SYSTEMS, IT IS POSSIBLE TO DIRECTLY OBTAIN X-RAY IMAGES WHICH ARE SUPERIOR TO DIGITAL FILM SCANNERS AND DIGITAL FLUOROSCOPY SYSTEMS. HOWEVER, THE INFORMATION TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMMERCIAL STORAGE PHOSPHOR SYSTEMS STILL DOES NOT EXCEED THAT OF CONVENTIONAL SCREEN/FILM SYSTEMS. THE LIMITED CAPABILITY OF THE COMMERCIAL SCREENS ARISES FROM THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE PHOSPHOR SCREENS, WHICH DOES NOT ALLOW FOR SIGNICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN INFORMATION TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS WITHOUT LOSS OF RESOLUTION. IN THIS EFFORT, AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH INVOLVING THE USE OF A QUANTEX PATENTED SRS:CE,SM STORAGE PHOSPHOR AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF VAPOR DEPOSITION PROCESSES TO GROW THICK AND OPTICALLY CLEAR PHOSPHOR LAYERS, WILL BE USED. SUCH LAYERS CAN BE MADE RELATIVELY THICK TO ENHANCE X-RAY ABSORPTION, AND THUS, INCREASE THE IMAGING SCREEN DETECTIVE QUANTUM EFFICIENCY, WITHOUT LOSS OF SPATIAL RESOLUTION. SPECIFICALLY, THE RESEARCH EFFORT AIMS TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF FABRICATING OPTICALLY CONTINUOUS AND NON-SCATTERING STORAGE PHOSPHOR LAYERS AND TO DETERMINE SPECIFIC COMPOUNDS AND CHEMISTRIES WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR THE USE OF CHEMICAL VAPOR DESPOSITION TECHNOLOGIES TO FABRICATE LARGE AREA STORAGE PHOSPHOR SCREENS WHICH ARE OPTICALLY CLEAR. SUCCESS OF THE EFFORT IS EXPECTED TO RESULT IN DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY SYSTEM SUPERIOR TO BOTH EXISTING STORAGE PHOSPHOR TECHNOLOGIES AND SCREEN/FILM SYSTEMS.