Design of wireless dual-energy dual-source versatile pediatric imaging system based on CMOS flat-panel detectors

Dose reduction is particularly important for pediatric imaging because children are more susceptible and sensitive to radiation exposure. This work reports on a design of a dual-energy dual-source versatile pediatric imaging system based on CMOS flat-panel detectors. To improve flexibility and usability, a fully-wireless control and data transfer platform based on Wi-Fi technology was implemented. We also performed a set of post-processing scheme including Laplacian of Gaussian operator and contrast enhancement to process images taken by the CMOS detector at a lower dose. In addition, a dual-energy subtraction technique was used to demonstrate its capability of dual-energy imaging. In dual-angle single-exposure scenario, white noise caused by scattering can be removed by a simple subtraction method. It is found that such a system is promising to perform imaging including digital radiography (DR), dual-energy imaging, tomosynthesis, and even computed tomography (CT) dedicated for pediatric patients at potentially lower doses.