Taking X-ray detection to the next level
Holst Centre is leading the way with a new generation of direct-conversion X-ray detectors, based on ultra-sensitive perovskite materials. Our flexible technology platform can be used to create curved detectors that enable smaller 3D imaging systems with better image quality. The technology behind these detectors significantly boosts resolution while simultaneously reducing the X-ray dose.
Holst Centre is working on a new generation of direct-conversion X-ray detectors that will revolutionise the process of taking X-rays. Direct conversion, used for example in mammography, means that X-rays are directly transferred into an electrical signal, which is then converted into an X-ray image. Perovskite is best known for its use in the fastest-advancing solar-cell technology to date. However, it is also promising in the area of direct-conversion X-ray materials that can be applied over large surfaces at low costs. In a first demonstration of this technology, TNO at Holst Centre and Siemens Healthineers have created a perovskite-based direct X-ray detector that is 50 times more sensitive than currently used mammography detectors. This means we can reduce the X-ray dose, which clearly has great health benefits. At the same time, the image resolution is twice as good as the world’s finest CMOS indirect detector, which will help to detect diseases at an early stage.
Flexible X-ray detectors
This technology platform is based on indirect conversion, using a scintillator layer with an optical image sensor. Our flexible X-ray detectors are lightweight, robust and can be used to create curved detectors, resulting in smaller 3D imaging systems with better image quality.
Reducing health care costs
The future trend in healthcare is to bring care to the patient instead of bringing the patient to a hospital. With the use of direct perovskite-based detectors, taking X-rays becomes easier, cheaper and safer. By turning it into a routine procedure, more people will benefit from this low-dose X-ray technology. And thanks to the improved image quality, diseases can be detected at an earlier stage, which will significantly reduce healthcare costs.