Flexible x-ray detector could have implications for food safety, border security
Novel technology from the University of Surrey in Guildford, England, could be changing the future of patient care with a flexible approach to x-ray detectors, according to research published this month in Nature Communications.
X-ray detectors used for mammography and dose measurement in radiotherapy are typically rigid structures, according to the paper, which can cause problems in screening and dose delivery that might lead to additional tissue damage or tumors. Flexible x-ray films exist—such as those used in dentistry—but, though they’re able to bypass tissue, they’re incapable of real-time imaging.
Hashini Thirimanne, lead author of the study and a PhD candidate at the University of Surrey, said in a release she and her team at the university’s Advanced Technology Institute developed an x-ray detector in response that was both adaptable and cost-effective.
The detector, which was created by embedding oxide nanoparticles in a bulk organic structure that allowed for large area detectors to be produced more inexpensively, achieved sensitivity levels competitive to existing technologies while operating at low voltages over the whole x-ray energy range spectrum.
“Our new technology has the potential to transform many industries that rely on x-ray detectors,” Thirimanne said in the release. “We believe that this innovation could help save lives and keep our borders more secure, and make sure that the food we eat is as safe as it could possibly be.”
The authors’ tech applies here because it can conform to its subject, meaning the x-ray detector arrays can be adapted to meet the needs of specific patients or even help monitor the movement of people and vehicles across large geographic areas, like the southern U.S. border.
According to the release, a separate start-up company was formed in response to the technology, with the goal of applying it to the health, food monitoring and pharmaceutical sectors.
Ravi Silva, the director of ATI at Surrey and a corresponding author of the paper, said the team is excited to move forward.
“We are incredibly proud of the young researchers at ATI who have progressed this project and have produced technology that could very well save lives and make the world safer,” he said in the release. “We look forward to helping the team bring this technology to market.”
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.