Experimental measurement of a high resolution CMOS detector coupled to CsI scintillators under X-ray radiation

• Three structured CsI:Tl screens (130,140 & 170 um) were coupled to a CMOS sensor.
• MTF of the CsI/CMOS was higher than GOS:Tb and CsI based digital imaging systems.
• IC of CsI:Tl/CMOS was found optimized for use in digital mammography systems.

The purpose of the present study was to assess the information content of structured CsI:Tl scintillating screens, specially treated to be compatible to a CMOS digital imaging optical sensor, in terms of the information capacity (IC), based on Shannon's mathematical communication theory. IC was assessed after the experimental determination of the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) and the Normalized Noise Power Spectrum (NNPS) in the mammography and general radiography energy range. The CMOS sensor was coupled to three columnar CsI:Tl scintillator screens obtained from the same manufacturer with thicknesses of 130, 140 and 170 μm respectively, which were placed in direct contact with the optical sensor. The MTF was measured using the slanted-edge method while NNPS was determined by 2D Fourier transforming of uniformly exposed images. Both parameters were assessed by irradiation under the mammographic W/Rh (130, 140 and 170 μm CsI screens) and the RQA-5 (140 and 170 μm CsI screens) (IEC 62220-1) beam qualities. The detector response function was linear for the exposure range under investigation. At 70 kVp, under the RQA-5 conditions IC values were found to range between 2229 and 2340 bits/mm2. At 28 kVp the corresponding IC values were found to range between 2262 and 2968 bits/mm2. The information content of CsI:Tl scintillating screens in combination to the high resolution CMOS sensor, investigated in the present study, where found optimized for use in digital mammography imaging systems.