LARGE-AREA, X-RAY-SENSITIVE TUBE FOR RADIOLOGY

THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND FABRICATIONOF A SERIES OF LARGE-AREA, X-RAY-SENSITIVE VIDEO TUBES, WITH 9-, 16-, AND 25-INCH DIAMETERS, FOR DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY. IF SUCCESSFUL, THE SMALLEST TUBE WILL PROVIDE REAL-TIME IMAGING FOR DYNAMIC STUDIES, AND ALL TUBES WILL BE CAPABLE OF SNAPSHOT IMAGING. THEY WILL RESEMBLE TELEVISION DISPLAY TUBES AND ARE DESIGNED TO PROVIDE HIGH-RESOLUTION, WIDE-DYNAMIC-RANGE PERFORMANCE BY ELECTRON BEAM READ-OUT AT THE SENSOR TARGET. THEIR DESIGN AVOIDS THEDEGRADATION IN SPATIAL RESOLUTION AND LOSS OF CONTRAST IN FLUOROSCOPIC-TYPE SYSTEMS THAT RESULT FROM DEMAGNIFICATION AND VEILING GLARE. THEY ALSO LACK THE PROBLEMS OF SOLID-STATE IMAGERS (SUCH AS THE FUJI PLATE) ASSOCIATED WITHTRANSPORT AND READ-OUT TIME. FUTHERMORE, SUCH TUBES WILL MAKE POSSIBLE SUBSTANTIAL REDUCTIONS IN THE COMPONENT AND SYSTEM COSTS OF ALL PHOTOELECTRONIC SYSTEMS AVAILABLE TODAY.PHASE I WILL PROVIDE AN ANALYSIS OF ALL TUBE COMPONENTS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS FOR OPTIMIZATION OF COMPONENT SELECTION AND MAGNITUDES. PHASE II WILL DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE FEASIBILITY WITH A PROTOTYPE TUBE.