Physical design of photon-counting mode γ-ray large object radiation imaging system

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The detectors of existing large object radiation imaging systems generally work under current-integration mode and cannot distinguish effective signals of unreacted photons from interfering signals of electronic noise and scattered photons, therefore, resulting in image quality deterioration. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to design a new photon-counting mode γ-ray large object radiation imaging system. Therefore, interfering signals with lower energy than effective signals can be eliminated by energy analysis. In addition, the system enables to work properly even under 30∼300Ci Co-60 intensity. METHODS: Based on the physical analysis of the system, the design requirements are listed. Following the requirements, the best-performing photon-counting detector based on LYSO and SiPM is used in the system. ZP-SK and (ZP)2-SK filter circuits are designed for Co-60 radiation imaging system with the highest intensity of 100Ci and 300Ci, respectively. Then, a voltage comparator and an FPGA are followed to realize the function of energy analysis and photon counting. RESULTS: The proposed technical solution can improve the Steel Penetration (SP) by at least 60∼70 mmFe compared with the existing current-integration system, which is equivalent to the improvement obtained by increasing the intensity of the radioactive source more than 13 to 20 times. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the advantages of applying the new photon-counting mode γ-ray large object radiation imaging system to improve the radiation image quality and the penetration ability, which will have enormous potential for future applications.