Multi-beam X-ray sources with carbon nanotube emitter for tomosynthesis system

Digital chest tomosynthesis that provides a reconstructed 3D chest image is a superior technique to detect chest diseases. As it is difficult to detect diseases like lung cancer with conventional 2D digital chest X-ray technology (CXT), digital chest tomosynthesis improves upon the many of the limitations inherent in the 2D digital CXT. In this study, we report a digital chest tomosynthesis system (D-CTS) that can generate multi X-ray information for the reconstruction of a 3D X-ray chest image. The D-CTS reported herein employs an array of carbon nanotube (CNT) emitter-based cold cathode electron-guns that are triggered in sequence to provide a gantry-less system (Figure 1). The CNTs are achieved by direct growth on a metal substrate and have a spaghetti-like structure (Figure 2) with fast response to electrical bias under vacuum conditions. Unlike conventional rotating type systems with gantries, our CTS has the advantage of less motion blur in image acquisition, given its stationary position. Additionally, the switching from one electron-gun (e-gun) to the next is much faster than the speed of conventional gantries, allowing faster acquisition time t required for digital operation. This system shows outstanding field emission property for taking X-ray images. The design, fabrication process and imaging processing of the multi-beam CNT X-ray system will be discussed during the presentation.