CONTEXT
Just like for visible image sensors, the global trend in the X-Ray image sensor market is to move from analog (silver films and semi-digital computed radiography (CR)) to digital direct radiography using flat panel detectors (FPD). Even if advantages like lower operational cost, higher performance and higher throughput are obvious, transition from analog to digital remains nevertheless limited for X-ray portable applications in medical diagnosis & industrial inspection, in particular because of the cost of system ownership and a lesser mechanical reliability, especially with regards to falls & shocks (compared to film & CR). By addressing both of these drawbacks, LORIX’s ambition is to speed up FPD market penetration and to strengthen European industries’ leadership position in the X-Ray imaging market.
CONCEPT
LORIX aims to develop, prototype and demonstrate large area X-ray detectors enabled by TOLAE (Thin Organic and Large Area Electronic) technology by combining printed Organic Photo Diodes (OPD) with existing active matrices Thin Film Transistors (TFT) arrays on glass or on plastic foil (organic TFT solution), depending on the targeted application. Within the project, three different applications are covered: medical imaging (e.g; medical general radiography, fluoroscopy, mammography, interventional, mobile dental and veterinary), Non Destructive Testing (e.g. automotive, electronics, aerospace, energy – Oil/Gases, construction, food, art) and Security (e.g. luggage, transportation, portable and remote inspection with robotics…).
OBJECTIVES
The LORIX innovative action will bring the organic X-ray sensor technologies from Lab validation to Fab demonstration. The project is built on a set of process developments which follows different steps:
- Front-end activities dealing with the process development for reliable large OPD devices on glass or on foil matrices,
- Back-end activities dealing with the prototyping of X-Ray detectors based on TOLAE solution,
- System activities which lead to the integration of the detectors in the final X-Ray demonstration system for the 3 targeted application fields: Security, Non Destructive Testing (NDT) and Healthcare.
