Medical Design Briefs - January 2025 - 24

A Step Toward Safer X-Rays with New Detector
Technology
The device reduces
detection limits.
ACS, Washington, DC
X-rays are a common component
of diagnostic testing and industrial
monitoring, used for everything
from monitoring your teeth to scanning
your suitcase at the airport.
But the high-energy rays also produce
ionizing radiation, which can
be dangerous after prolonged or
excessive exposures. Now, researchers
publishing in ACS Central Science
have taken a step toward safer x-rays
by creating a highly sensitive and
foldable detector that produces
good quality images with smaller
dosages of the rays.
" This advancement reduces detection
limits and paves the way for
safer and more energy-efficient
medical imaging and industrial
monitoring, " says Omar F. Mohammed,
the corresponding author on
the study. " It demonstrates that cascade-engineered
devices
enhance
the capabilities of single crystals in
x-ray detection. "
Just like visible light and radio
waves, x-rays are a form of electromagnetic
radiation. Their high-energy
state allows them to pass
through most objects - including
the soft tissues of our bodies. To
produce an x-ray image, called a radiograph,
the rays either pass
through the body and appear as shadowy
shapes on the image, or get stuck
in denser tissues like bones, leaving behind
a brighter, white area. The
amount of radiation a patient is exposed
to during a single scan is not
dangerous, and one would have to undergo
thousands of scans to start to notice
compounding effects. However,
these repeated exposures to high-energy
rays can damage electronic equipment
or pose a risk to someone like an
x-ray technician. So, the fewer rays
used during a scan, the better, right?
Unfortunately, fewer rays mean a
lower-quality radiograph. But by increasing
the sensitivity of the detector,
a low-dose, high-quality x-ray could
24
A new x-ray detector produces a high-quality radiograph that shows a metal needle (top right) and the interior of a USB
drive (bottom right) using lower doses of electromagnetic radiation than previous detectors. (Credit: Adapted from ACS
Central Science 2024, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.4c01296)
theoretically be produced. So, Omar
Mohammed and colleagues at the King
Abdullah University of Science and
Technology engineered a device that
facilitates these safer x-ray conditions.
To increase x-ray detector sensitivity,
the researchers aimed to minimize the
dark current - the residual background
noise - generated by the device.
To do so, they created detectors
using specialized methylammonium
lead bromide perovskite crystals, and
then they connected the crystals in an
electrical configuration known as a
cascade.
The cascade configuration nearly
halved the dark current, which improved
the x-ray detection limit by five
times compared with previous detecwww.medicaldesignbriefs.com
tors
made from the same crystals but
without the cascade. Radiographs
made with the new detector revealed
fine details, such as a metal needle
piercing a raspberry and the interior
components of a USB cable. The team
states that this technology is a promising
method for developing foldable,
safer and sensitive commercial x-ray
devices, which would serve to minimize
radiation exposure during medical
procedures and capture subtle details
in industrial monitoring.
The authors acknowledge funding
from the King Abdullah University of
Science and Technology (KAUST).
For more information, contact Omar
F. Mohammed at omar.abdelsaboor@
kaust.edu.sa or visit www.acs.org.
Medical Design Briefs, January 2025

https://doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.4c01296 http://www.acs.org http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com

Medical Design Briefs - January 2025

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