SEMICONDUCTOR EXPOSURE CONTROLLER FOR IMPROVED MAMMOGRAPHY

CANCER OF THE BREAST IS PRESENTLY THE MOST COMMON FORM OF CANCER IN WOMEN AND EARLY DETECTION OF IT HAS BECOME ONE OF THE NATION'S MORE PRESSING MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS. OF THE AVAILABLE TECHNIQUES, MAMMOGRAPHY IS THE MOST WIDELY USED APPROACH FOR THE EARLY DETECTING OF THE PRESENCE OF A POTENTIAL TUMOR WORTHY OF FURTHER INVESTIGATION. MAMMOGRAPHY IS ONE OF THE MOST DEMANDING MEDICAL X-RAY TECHNIQUES. THIS IS BECAUSE IT DEALS WITH SOFT TISSUE STRUCTURES OF VERY LOW CONTRAST. THE MAMMOGRAM IMAGE MUST BE ABLE TO SHOW THE SOFT GLANDULAR TISSUE, CYSTIC OR SOLID TUMORS, AND THE FIBROUS STRANDS. IN ADDITION, IT MUST RESOLVE TINY MICROCALCIFICATIONS WHICH ARE MORE DENSE BUT OF VERY SMALL DIAMETER. IF THE EXPOSURE IS NOT CORRECT, THE FILM WILL NOT PROVIDE SUFFICIENT INFORMATION AND THE IMAGE MUST BE RETAKEN AT A COST OF BOTH EXTRA MONEY AND SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL EXPOSURE TO THE PATIENT. TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF RETAKES AND TO OPTIMIZE IMAGE QUALITY, SOME NEW X-RAY MACHINES USE AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE CONTROLLERS. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF X-RAY MACHINES USED FOR MAMMOGRAPHY IN THE FIELD WHICH DO NOT HAVE AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE CONTROLLERS, AND ALTHOUGH SOME NEWER MACHINES HAVE INCORPORATED CONTROLLERS, THERE IS STILL ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT AS RETAKES ARE SOMETIMES REQUIRED. BECAUSE OF THE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH PRESENT CONTROLLERS AND BECAUSE OF THE IMPORTANT BENEFITS OFFERED BY IMPROVED IMAGING, WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE USE OF A NEW, HIGHLY SENSITIVE SOLID-STATE X-RAY SENSOR AS THE BASIS FOR AN IMPROVED EXPOSURE CONTROLLER. THIS SENSOR SHOULD MAKE POSSIBLE THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE CONTROLLER FOR FUTURE MAMMOGRAPHY X-RAY MACHINES.