Santa Clara, CA – Rad-icon Imaging, a leading provider of high-performance CMOS image sensors and cameras for the digital radiography market worldwide and a division of DALSA Corporation (Waterloo, Ontario), today announced the general availability of the SkiaGraph8 PT, a new addition to its product line of Very Large Area (VLA) CMOS x-ray cameras. The portable SkiaGraph8 PT camera offers a rugged external housing for field use and supports x-ray energies of 10-160 kVp, which is ideal for medical and veterinary applications as well as industrial inspection applications such as the non-destructive evaluation of up to 10 mm of steel or 25 mm of aluminum. Consistent with the earlier products in Rad-icon’s SkiaGraph product line, the new SkiaGraph8 PT features low power consumption and excellent DQE as well as lower noise, higher resolution, and higher sensitivity than competing devices in the market.
Digital radiography is the technology of choice for increasing efficiency and decreasing cost in a variety of applications. Radiologists and industrial inspectors have always faced challenges with the form factor, performance, and cost of their overall imaging solution. Traditional film-based imaging requires the recurring expense of purchasing film and storing the physical images, which quickly drains resources in a time of increased attention to streamlining the medical record-keeping process. For veterinary practitioners, portable imaging for field inspection is especially important in the timely diagnosis of race horses and for traveling veterinary practices. For government applications such as battlefield medicine and homeland security, portable yet powerful digital x-ray imaging solutions are key. CMOS x-ray cameras such as Rad-icon’s SkiaGraph8 PT solve the issues of form factor, image output, and storage by delivering high performance, high sensitivity, and superior resolution in a compact form factor at a cost-efficient price.
“The SkiaGraph8 PT extends Rad-icon’s product line of large-area, cost-effective digital imaging panels to applications where ease-of-use and portability are indispensable,” said Thorsten Achterkirchen, General Manager of Rad-icon Imaging Corporation and Vice President of DALSA Corporation. “Our SkiaGraph8 PT delivers high ROI due to unlimited repeated images, fast setup for onsite inspection, and high quality digital x-ray images anywhere, anytime.”
SkiaGraph8 PT cameras build upon a tiled configuration of Rad-icon’s RadEye100 Very Large Area (VLA) CMOS image sensors to achieve a total active sensing area of 8” x 8” (20 x 20 cm), which is sufficient to capture most objects of interest in a single frame, yet small enough to maintain ease-of-use in setup and portability. Other features include:
- Unsurpassed x-ray sensitivity and 12-bit digitization for clear, sharp capture of subtle contrast changes in the x-ray image.
- Real-time imaging at up to 1.4 fps (5.3 fps in binned mode).
- 96µm pixel size (5 lp/mm spatial resolution) with over four million pixels overall for superb resolution that captures even the smallest image detail.
- 10-160kVp energy range is ideal for most medical/veterinary applications and enables non-destructive evaluation of up to 10mm of steel or 25mm of aluminum.
- Choice of scintillators that provide impressive sensitivity as high as 500 ADU/mR. A Gd2O2S (Gadox) integrated direct-contact scintillator converts x-ray photons into visible light that is sensed by the CMOS photodiodes.
- Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) interface connects to notebook PC and allows cable lengths up to 100m. Optional sync connector can be used to remotely trigger x-ray source.
- Light weight (<4kg), ruggedized construction and integrated carrying handle for a truly portable imaging solution.
The SkiaGraph8 PT incorporates a tough carbon-fiber cover with a stainless steel housing to protect the sensor from accidental damage as well as ambient light. Analog signals from the photodiode sensors are digitized in eight parallel A/D channels and then interleaved for maximum transmission speed across the GigE interface. Typical applications include veterinary imaging - especially equine breeders and horse racing facilities; mobile medical radiography for onsite use such as battlefields, remote locations, or nursing homes; non-destructive industrial inspection of pipes, welds, castings, electronics, ceramics, and composites; archaeology and comparative zoology; museum archival & research; and antiquity dealers.
About Rad-icon Imaging
Rad-icon Imaging (Santa Clara, CA.), a division of DALSA Corporation (Waterloo, Ontario), is a leading provider of high-performance CMOS image sensors and cameras for the digital radiography market worldwide. Rad-icon Imaging’s products enable medical practitioners, industrial manufacturers, and scientific researchers to create superior image quality, high resolution, and large active area images
based on our CMOS active pixel sensor (APS) technology. Rad-icon’s products address diverse applications such as tissue biopsy, non-destructive testing, circuit board testing, and crystallography. Rad-icon Imaging’s customers are able to implement cost-effective and high-performance digital imaging solutions. For more information, please visit http://www.rad-icon.com or call (408) 486-0886.
About DALSA Corporation
DALSA is an international leader in high performance digital imaging and semiconductors with approximately 1000 employees world-wide. Established in 1980, the Company designs, develops, manufactures, and markets digital imaging products and solutions, in addition to providing semiconductor products and services. DALSA's core competencies are in specialized integrated circuit and electronics technology, software, and highly engineered semiconductor wafer processing. Products and services include image sensor components (CCD and CMOS); electronic digital cameras; vision processors; image processing software; and semiconductor wafer foundry services for use in MEMS, high-voltage semiconductors, image sensors and mixed-signal CMOS chips. DALSA is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "DSA" and has its corporate offices in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
