Associate Provost for Research Boston University Medical Campus
NIBIB - National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering	Research Resources

Abstract

Abstract: DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Limitations in detector performance have kept medical radiology from utilizing and enjoying the full benefits of digital technology. The major obstacles have been material performance and lack of viable commercial processes to fabricate large area screens. We propose to develop a new technology for the synthesis of such scintillating screens based on vapor deposition of films, a technology ideally suited to this purpose. Initially we intend to work with a new scintillator material, a Lu2O3 optical ceramic, which has displayed impressive performance in dental x-ray applications. However its utilization and commercialization for medical applications has been impractical because of the way materials and devices are currently fabricated. The two processes that are directly responsible, namely hot pressing (which limits size and shape) and laser pixelation (time-consuming and expensive), will be eliminated by the new technology we propose, resulting in a new breed of .advanced scintillators. We . will begin by utilizing PVD to fabricate exploratory coatings that wilLenable early characterization and evaluation. This will provide valuable information for our primary effort on CVD, which is our process of choice for achieving the thicknesses that will ultimately be heeded. Guided by chemical thermodynamics and kinetics, we will deposit fully dense transparent films of this material in thicknesses >200 jam, and areas up to10 cm2 (limited only by our experimental equipment size). We will further seek to control the microstructure, and use tailored substrates (using photoresist techniques) so as to enhance channeling of the emitted light toward the photodetectorand to minimize laterial scattering. The success of this research will advance the performance of systems for digital radiology beyond that of conventional film-screen technology and make possible the widespread replacement of the latter for general radiological applications. This will for the first time make the benefits of digital techniques in data management, image enhancement, and differential analysis widely available to the broad medical radiological community.

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Institution:	BOSTON UNIVERSITY
	881 COMMONWEALTH AVENUE
	BOSTON, MA 02215
Fiscal Year:	2006
Department:	MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING
Project Start:	01-MAY-2006
Project End:	30-APR-2008
ICD:	NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF BIOMEDICAL IMAGING AND BIOENGINEERING
IRG:	BMIT