CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) technologies—commonly used in digital cameras—serve as effective alternatives to indirect flat panel detectors. While designed primarily for visible light sensing, their unique advantages make them suitable for specific X-ray imaging scenarios.
Key Technical Insights
- CCDs excel at visible light measurement and offer fast read speeds, traits inherited from their use in digital cameras.
- A core challenge: CCD/CMOS sensor sizes do not match the larger area of scintillators (used to convert X-rays to visible light) in X-ray systems.
How to Connect Scintillators to CCD/CMOS
To bridge the size gap and transmit visible light from scintillators to CCD/CMOS detectors, two main methods are used:
- Fiber coupling: Acts as a “light funnel” to concentrate light from the larger scintillator onto the smaller sensor. Note: Efficiency is slightly lower than TFT flat panels, as not all light is focused on the detector.
- Lenses or electronic optical couplers: Narrow down the light signal as an alternative to fiber coupling.
Core Advantage & Ideal Applications
The biggest benefit of CCD/CMOS technology is its faster read speed—faster than conventional TFT arrays, thanks to specialized electronics.
This makes it particularly valuable for:
- Interventional imaging
- Fluoroscopic imaging
These scenarios demand higher frame rates (images per second) than standard radiography, where speed takes priority over other factors.
If you’re in need of CCD sensors or flat panel detectors for your imaging equipment, feel free to contact us for tailored solutions!
Post time: Nov-14-2025