NEWS | EUREKA!
Scientists develop
safer X-rays for
children
EUROPEAN PHOTONICS
SCIENTISTS have developed a new
‘autocorrect’ image processing
algorithm to reduce X-ray scatter,
meaning children can receive safer,
high contrast, low dose X-rays.
Clinicians will be able to take a
low radiation, digital X-ray image -
without the need for an anti-scatter
grid - thanks to new innovative
‘scattering suppression software’.
Developed by photonics scientists
at WUT, working in collaboration with
innovation incubator ACTPHAST
4.0 and medical imaging company
Italray SRL, the new algorithm ‘auto
corrects’ unclear, low dose digital
X-rays to generate a higher-contrast
image, meaning young children can
receive safer scans.
When having an X-ray or CT scan,
beams enter the body and ricochet
around inside – or become ‘scattered’.
Given that the scatter signal
interferes with the primary contrast
of the patient’s physical features such
as bones or organs, this scattering
process creates ‘noise’ and leads
to a loss in image quality - making
resulting X-rays appear blurred.
The scatter, however can be
counteracted with an ‘anti scatter
grid’ – a metal plate made of lead
strips to encourage parallel beams -
improving the image contrast. But,
this grid normally requires a higher
dose of X-rays, and can therefore be
dangerous to small children.
With over 660 million X-rays being
recorded in Europe in 2008, they are a
diagnostic test most of us are familiar
with. X-rays can emit harmful ionising
radiation - high-energy particles that
penetrate tissue to reveal internal
organs and bone structures – which
can damage DNA. While scientists
have often sought to reduce this
ionizing radiation, traditionally it has
come at the expense of the type of
detector and image resolution.
The photonics scientists have
been able to address the image
quality problem as a result of scatter
from the perspective of the acquired
data and the digital image processing.
Dr. Wojciech Krauze, project
manager for the collaboration
explains: “The partnership between
ACTPHAST 4.0, Italray and WUT has
looked at ways to reduce the amount
of ‘noise’ – or the removal of errors - in
final images.
“It works by minimising the
scattering process by taking the
original image and estimation of the
scatter signal. By partially ‘reversing’
the scatter our digital image
processing algorithm is able to reduce
the amount of noise signal, essentially
‘autocorrecting’ the blurred image.
“The method is very fast: a
physician taking the x-ray image
of a patient obtains the corrected
‘denoised’ version instantly.”
“The result is a ‘scatter grid
quality’ image without the need
for an actual anti scatter grid,” Dr
Krauze said.
CPI JOINS QUANTUM SENSOR CONSORTIUM
CPI, AN INDEPENDENT technology
innovation centre and founding
member of the UK Government’s
High Value Manufacturing Catapult,
today announced its participation
in an exciting collaborative
project – termed the Quantum
Sensors project – to develop
sensors for revolutionising quality
assessment and battery grading
in the manufacturing line. This
project will advance electric vehicle
battery manufacturing in the UK and
overcome cost barriers to enable
the widespread adoption of electric
vehicles.
By 2030, it is anticipated that 50%
of vehicles produced will be partially
or wholly electric, however there
are still challenges in battery and
lithium cell technology that need to
be addressed in order to achieve this.
Cell age testing is used to determine
if a cell meets quality standards
and can provide an indication of
its state-of-health. This process
traditionally involves storage for two
weeks at elevated temperatures,
creating energy inefficiency and
elevated costs. There is an urgent
need for rapid, continuous and noninvasive
monitoring of the cell on the
production line.
The Quantum Sensors project is
a collaboration between 11 partners
in the supply chain to develop
a pilot scale system capable of
continuous end-of-line testing of
battery cells using optically pumped
magnetometers (OPMs). The system
will feature an array of OPMs, which
act as quantum sensors to detect
the small magnetic field given off by
healthy lithium cells. This technique
can be used to monitor the quality of
battery cells on the production line in
order to quickly reject faulty cells and
provide detailed quality assurance.
Improving quality assurance in
this way has the potential to save
millions of pounds per site annually
in end-of-line testing at Gigafactory
scale and knock 30% off the cost of
production. This project will involve
the development of a UK supply
chain for the manufacturing of OPMs,
including vapour cell production,
laser manufacture, optical packaging,
magnetic shielding, electronic control
and data processing systems. The
end goal of the project is the creation
of a pilot scale battery testing system
that can be implemented within a trial
production line.
8 WWW.EUREKAMAGAZINE.CO.UK | FEBRUARY 2021
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