A silicon strip detector coupled to the RX64 ASIC for X-ray diagnostic imaging

First results from a silicon microstrip detector with 100 mum pitch coupled to the RX64 ASIC are presented. The system is capable of single photon counting in digital X-ray imaging, with possible applications to dual energy mammography and angiography. The main features of the detecting system are low noise, good spatial resolution and high counting rate capability. The energy resolution and the conversion efficiency of the system are discussed, based on results obtained with fluorescence X-ray sources and quasi-monochromatic X-ray beams in the 8-36 keV energy range, with strips being either orthogonal or parallel to the incoming X-rays. We present also preliminary imaging results obtained with a plexiglass phantom with tiny cylindrical cavities filled with iodate solution, simulating patient vessels; in this case the X-ray beam has two components, respectively below and above the iodine Kedge at 33.17 keV. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.