X-RAY IMAGING APPARATUS AND METHOD USING A FLAT AMORPHOUS SILICON IMAGING PANEL

摘要

An x-ray imaging apparatus receives an image-carrying x-ray beam (12) on a flat amorphous silicon imaging panel (20) with a detector unit (42) disposed behind. The imaging panel is of a multilayered structure having sequentially a light-blocking layer (26) which is opaque to visible light but transmissive to x-rays, a converting layer of a phosphorescent material (28) for converting x-rays incident thereon into visible light, and a two-dimensional array of photosensitive elements (30) of an amorphous semiconductor material such as amorphous silicon, adapted to undergo a detectable change in electrical characteristic in response to impingement of light. A detector unit (42) receives x-rays which have penetrated and passed through the imaging panel (20). A scintillator (45) converts the x-rays into light energy. The light detector (46) receives the light emitted. Since the energy of light thus detected is directly proportional to the total light energy emitted from the converting layer, the output signal from such a light detector unit can be conveniently used for the exposure control of the imaging panel. IMAGE