New Rx Camera: 3D images, minimal radiation

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

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

The technology on which it is based - plenoptic imaging - consists of using a special photo sensor capable of registering the image and the direction of light rays. This information is then processed to reconstruct an image in depth, going from a pixel (in two dimensions) to a volume element, or voxel (in 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 experts in metrology, tomography, and three-dimensional image reconstruction.

This new technology, says project coordinator Marta Fajardo, "will allow images to be taken at a lower dose, unlike the technologies currently used, which, due to the risk associated with ionizing radiation, are reserved for the most severe cases.