Epson EPIX manual Appendix a Storage Phosphor Technology, How Storage Phosphor Imaging Plates Work

Appendix A: Storage Phosphor Technology

The EPIX SCANNER Digital Imaging System produces high quality x-ray images at very low doses. The imaging plates in the EPIX SCANNER system are much more efficient at capturing x-ray energy than x-ray film.

Unstable Excited

Expose to Red Laser

Blue light emitted as molecul es return

the energy of x-rays and store the pattern as a latent image (see diagram).

In essence, they act as an “energy trap,” storing x-ray energy. The amount of energy stored is directly proportional to the amount of x-ray energy the crystal was exposed to.

The EPIX SCANNER further excites the phosphor crystals to an unstable state by exposing them to a red laser. The phosphor crystals then release a blue light and return to their stable ground state. The EPIX

Stable Excited

State

to ground state

SCANNER reads this blue light and, with the imaging software, produces an image.

Expose IP to X-Rays

Imaging Plates Ground

State (Erased Imaging

How Storage Phosphor Imaging Plates Work

Each EPIX SCANNER Imaging Plate is made up of a very thin layer of tiny storage phosphor crystals that are bonded together and coated on a flexible sheet of plastic. These storage phosphor crystals have the ability to capture

This process does not completely erase the imaging plate. Some crystals remain as “energy traps.” This information can be erased by exposing the imaging plate to light. A few seconds of low levels of light will usually not effect the image quality. Once erased, the imaging plate can be re-exposed and the process can begin again. With proper handling, EPIX SCANNER Imaging Plates can be continually reused.

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