(Invited) Towards a Digital Radiology Roadmap

Abstract

The appearance of digital x ray detectors based on a-Si technology over ten years ago has revolutionized the practice of radiology by making available systems of unprecedented capabilities which are well positioned to integrate into hospital PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems). Much more recently CMOS wafer scale devices have become feasible and are already making headway in the market. The clinical requirements for x ray systems for are extremely varied. Each imaging task would ideally require a detector optimized for that particular task. This is not practical so the system designer needs to make compromises so that the device is of reasonable cost, has sufficient resolution and is dose efficient for the majority of tasks it will be called on to perform in the clinic. Thus there are a multitude of options and decisions to be made before even it is possible to design an optimized detector.