Effect of repeated x-ray exposure on the resolution of amorphous selenium based x-ray imagers.

PURPOSE: A numerical model and the experimental methods to study the x-ray exposure dependent change in the modulation transfer function (MTF) of amorphous selenium (a-Se) based active matrix flat panel imagers (AMFPIs) are described. The physical mechanisms responsible for the x-ray exposure dependent change in MTF are also investigated. METHODS: A numerical model for describing the x-ray exposure dependent MTF of a-Se based AMFPIs has been developed. The x-ray sensitivity and MTF of an a-Se AMFPI have been measured as a function of exposure. The instantaneous electric field and free and trapped carrier distributions in the photoconductor layer are obtained by numerically solving the Poisson's equation, continuity equations, and trapping rate equations using the backward Euler finite difference method. From the trapped carrier distributions, a method for calculating the MTF due to incomplete charge collection is proposed. RESULTS: The model developed in this work and the experimental data show a reasonably good agreement. The model is able to simultaneously predict the dependence of the sensitivity and MTF on accumulated exposure at different applied fields and bias polarities, with the same charge transport parameters that are typical of the particular a-Se photoconductive layer that is used in these AMFPIs. Under negative bias, the MTF actually improves with the accumulated x-ray exposure while the sensitivity decreases. The MTF enhancement with exposure decreases with increasing applied field. CONCLUSIONS: The most prevalent processes that control the MTF under negative bias are the recombination of drifting holes with previously trapped electrons (electrons remain in deep traps due to their long release times compared with the time scale of the experiments) and the deep trapping of drifting holes and electrons.

Evaluation of the imaging properties of an amorphous selenium-based flat panel detector for digital fluoroscopy.

The imaging performance of an amorphous selenium (a-Se) flat-panel detector for digital fluoroscopy was experimentally evaluated using the spatial frequency dependent modulation transfer function (MTF), noise power spectrum (NPS), and detective quantum efficiency (DQE). These parameters were investigated at beam qualities and exposures within the range typical of gastrointestinal fluoroscopic imaging (approximately 0.1 - 10 microR, 75 kV). The investigation does not take into consideration the detector cover, which in clinical use will lower the DQE measured here by its percent attenuation. The MTF was found to be less than the expected aperture response and the NPS was not white which together indicate presampling blurring. The cause of this blurring was attributed to charge trapping at the interface between two different layers of the a-Se. The effect on the DQE was also consistent with presampling blur, which reduces the aliasing in the NPS and thereby reduces the spatial frequency dependence of the DQE. (The DQE was independent of spatial frequency from 0.12 to 0.73 mm(-1) due to antialiasing of the NPS.) Moreover, the first zero of the measured MTF and the aperture response appeared at the same spatial frequency (6.66 mm(-1) for a pixel of 150 microm). Hence, the geometric fill factor (77%) was increased to an effective fill factor of 99 +/- 1%. A large scale ( approximately 32 pixels) correlation in the noise due to the configuration of the readout electronics caused increased noise power in the gate line NPS at low spatial frequency (< 0.1 mm(-1)). The DQE (f = 0) was exposure independent over a large range of exposures but became exposure dependent at low exposures due to the electronic noise.