New X-ray camera: 3D images, minimal radiation

Seeing the inside of the human body in three dimensions with minimal doses of ionizing radiation is what will enable innovative technology currently being developed at the Institute of Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion of the Instituto Superior Técnico (IPFN-IST).

Six European research centers and a high added-value company make up the consortium of the project coordinated by Marta Fajardo, FCT Researcher at IPFN-IST. VOXEL is one of 26 FET (acronym for Future and Emerging Technologies) projects from the Horizon 2020 Program selected for funding, out of 643 proposals received in the latest edition of Call. The project has €3.99 million in funding, €760,000 of which is for Portugal.

The technology on which it is based—plenoptic imaging—consists of using a special photographic sensor capable of recording the image and the direction of light rays. This information is then processed to reconstruct an image in depth, moving from a pixel (two dimensions) to a volume element, or voxel (three dimensions).

Based on this principle, the new X-ray camera will represent an alternative to traditional radiography, with multiple potential applications ranging from dentistry, traumatology, and cancer detection to the study of materials. To develop it, the multidisciplinary team includes specialists in metrology, tomography, and three-dimensional image reconstruction.

This new technology, says project coordinator Marta Fajardo, "will allow images to be taken with lower doses, unlike the technologies currently in use, which, due to the risks associated with ionizing radiation, are reserved for the most serious cases."