There is an increasing interest in the use of solid-state based
X-ray medical imaging and detection systems in the replacement
of conventional diagnostic imaging techniques. One of these
technologies is wafer-scale CMOS sensor-based imaging, which can
bring key advantages in terms of performance such as high
resolution, high dynamic range and low noise capabilities.
Additionally, it can offer significant system cost advantages
for X-ray imaging applications, although it can come with an
initial penalty in terms of design complexity in the development
of the CMOS sensor.Image sensor target area Because of the
absence of a lens for CMOS-imaging-based X-ray applications, the
size of an image sensor has to match the size of the target
area. A sensor measuring 139x120mm, for example, is usually
adequate for some medical applications such as extra-oral
panoramic dental imaging. However it is not sufficient for most
medical applications such as mammography, which requires a
sensor that is approximately 290x240mm in