Our devices are also suitable for helical CT, the largest medical sensor market, and we are developing a 6 bin multi-spectral CT detector so that Varex Imaging can enter this market.
What are the advantages of your detectors for medical applications such as mammography and CT?
Efficiency. The thickness of the convertor allows us to stop more X-rays without loss of resolution and this means low dose imaging with high resolution images. This is very important for mammography, of course, as healthy women are irradiated during a scan and the dose needs to be as low as reasonably achievable.
For CT, the same applies; we can capture more of the X-rays, in general, greater efficiency leads to the same signal in a shorter time. Photon counting energy discrimination means CT reconstructions can be improved too, as well as opening up a whole new field of multi spectral CT which we expect to emerge in the next 5 to 10 years. Direct Conversion already has a breast CT customer who has launched a system employing our sensors in a curved array and this validates our technology in a real world, CE marked device.
How do you expect your detectors to fit into Varex Imaging’s packaged solutions for CT?
Varex Imaging currently supplies many of the parts for X-ray imaging in a CT system, but it doesn’t have a CT detector. With our technology, our goal is to expand these supplied components by adding a detector sub-system fully assembled and ready for use to plug into the rest of the CT system.
Tell us more about your charge integrating technology product line?
Charge integration (CI) is our legacy technology; it has been very successful in the dental market and was the starting point for the hybridization process that led to Direct Conversion becoming experts in using cadmium telluride (CdTe) as a converter. CI will be phased out as we move to photon counting. We will not create new CI sensors but will continue to support customers who use them in their dental and industrial systems.
You have a long history making detectors for the dental market – what makes your products for this application stand out and have such longevity?
Image quality underpins our success. While CMOS has narrowed the gap in image quality slightly, direct conversion technology and the efficiency of CdTe leads to very high-quality sensors and detectors.
Do you have any new products planned for the dental market?
We are launching a photon counting version of our dental range later this year and we are already working with new customers to implement this technology. We plan to have panoramic and cephalometric sensors as well as a dental CT small area flat panel on the market by 2021. We are supporting our existing customers so they can progress to this platform as seamlessly as possible.
There is a real opportunity for growth in the Industrial NDT / quality control market as they adopt digital technology. What do the Direct Conversion products offer for this opportunity?
Direct Conversion products offer fast inspection speeds in addition to completely new inspection methods to detect things that were previously undetectable. These speeds are a result of our efficiency in detection and fast speeds translate to the possibility of more products inspected per hour which in turn would reduce costs for the end user and increase value for the OEM system manufacturers.
We can improve food safety inspection by enabling applications that were not possible before, like finding PVC in products that have a complex background in absorption X-ray images. We can also improve weld inspection in the oil and gas industries and create value for our partners in faster, more thorough process control.
You have recently opened the Application Innovation Centre in Munich. Can you tell us more about the Centre and what it will offer to customers?
The Centre provides customers with an opportunity to see our detectors working in real applications. Our goal is to shorten the time for evaluation and therefore allow us to progress sales more rapidly. We can give customers demonstrations of imaging so they gain confidence in the solution we are offering, and the Centre can act as a hub for internal and external learning.
I can see real advantages for Varex Imaging from adding Direct Conversion products to our portfolio. What advantages do you think Direct Conversion will gain by joining the Varex Imaging team?
Direct Conversion will benefit from Varex Imaging’s global presence and a team of experts who understand X-ray and how we can help improve safety and patient care. Direct Conversion will be able to access this pool of talent and build on its success to push photon counting into the mainstream and help Varex Imaging to continue as a leader in X-ray imaging technologies.
