Prototype 400mm x 400mm rastered planar Xray source to allow 3D imaging from planar radiology. Device will be ultra light-weight (

Flat Panel X-ray Source to be used with existing Digital Radiography detectors.
This transformation is important as, while the DETECTOR side of current systems has been significantly innovated (e.g. by advances in Digital Radiography, such as CMOS detectors), the SOURCE is still fundamentally the same 100 year old technology as that in the Science Museum.
Current sources typically make up >95% of the weight and >60% of the cost of a planar X-ray solution. By replicating the transformation seen in Visual Display Units when LCD replaced vacuum tubes, we will: reduce the weight of a clinical X-ray source from c. >200kg to 30%; and,change the maintenance economics to those of a 'solid-state' device. As importantly we will improve functionality of planar X-ray (to give 3D imaging), reduce radiation burden (by enabling selective imaging), and make it easier to deploy X-ray radiology outside of a hospital.
This is important as Planar X-ray is the work-horse of medical imaging, representing 60% of imaging procedures - improving its functionality and reducing its cost is important to healthcare. There is a demand for such a product. The company has a non-exclusive Collaboration Agreement with a major Medical Imaging company, and this relationship has been leveraged to define the Market Requirement Specification. The Total Addressable Market for such a source is conservatively estimated as exceeding US$1.5bn per anum.
This project will deliver a full scale (400mm x 400mm) solid state source manufactured in a semiconductor development environment and tested on a clinical phantom (a model of a body used to test such devices). This device will then be ready to transfer to a manufacturing environment, be CE tested and released for commercial production. The company has a Letter of Support from a semiconductor manufacturer interested in manufacturing the source in the UK.