Developing High Vacuum enclosures for novel X-ray source

Many people you know will have had a Computed Tomography (‘CT’) scan as part of their medical treatment. These machines are miracles of engineering and have transformed clinical practice, with their use doubling over a decade. However, many of the people you know may have had to wait sometime to have their scan, due in part to the expense of such machines restricting availability in the UK. In addition, doctors have to balance their use with the risks resulting from the radiation associated with CT. Adaptix is developing a Flat Panel X-ray Source (FPS), an array of small low-power emitters, something that allows 3D imaging without movement, and which allows a low-cost, low-dose 3D imaging solution that could be taken to the bedside or deployed in Primary Care. Innovate UK will support Adaptix, a UK SME, in developing novel manufacturing processes to alow the low-temperature bonding of ceramics to alumium to be used in the manufacture of their FPS. This will transform the cost of producing the source while allowing it to hold vacuum (and therefore operate) over a period of many years deployed within a hospital.