A compact PC-based X-ray imaging system

A compact, portable PC-based X-ray imaging system has been developed based on a 2D silicon microstrip sensor and particle physics readout electronics. The sensor is housed in a specially built hybrid, which also hosts the front-end electronics. The control and the readout electronics used are based on the standard PCI and PMC architectures and were originally developed for High Energy Physics Experiments. The use of PCI based electronics and the development of the control software for the PC-Linux platform led to a compact, portable, low cost imaging system. The system was initially tested and evaluated with beta particles from a 90Sr radioactive source, gamma rays from an 241Am radioactive source and cosmic rays, and it displayed consistent response. It was then operated using a compact X-ray machine with Mo tube and images of various targets were reconstructed offline using the ROOT data analysis package.