This thesis describes an evaluation of a novel low light level charge couple device (L3CCD) technology. Two L3CCDs have been fully evaluated in terms of their signal and noise properties. The primary aim of this work is to identify the device characteristics that affect the overall performance. Conclusions have been made to this end and a prediction of the optimal performance in terms of the device sensitivity is made. Comparisons with other detectors suitable for use in medical imaging have shown that the L3CCD surpasses other detectors in specific performance characteristics and is comparable in others. The competitive performance of the L3CCD confirms that it may afford benefits in those areas in which the L3CCD has superior performance compared to other detectors. Two diagnostic imaging techniques which were identified as applications of L3CCD technology have been investigated. Linear systems analysis has been used to predict the performance of two L3CCD based imaging systems for use in fluoroscopic imaging. Comparison of the predicted performance of the two system with systems in clinical use show that an L3CCD coupled to an x-ray phosphor via a tapered fibre optic is a competitive alternative to present fluoroscopic imaging systems. Experimental validation of the model has confirmed this conclusion. An L3 detector has been designed, built and evaluated for diffraction enhanced breast imaging. To demonstrate the use of the L3 detector for diffraction enhanced breast imaging it has been used to acquire diffraction images of human breast tissue with cancerous inclusions. Measurements of scatter contrast confirm improvements in scatter contrast compared to transmission contrast. The successful demonstration of the L3CCDs ability to collect diagnostic information has shown that the L3CCD is suitable for diffraction enhanced breast imaging.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:289178 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Harris, Emma Jane |
| Publisher | University College London (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1317861/ |
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