Shaw Inspection Systems manufacture a wide range of high energy (MeV) x-ray detectors for use at x-ray energies of 2, 4, 9, and 15MeV. Due to the specialist nature of the imaging applications that use these energies, most detector systems are custom built to the highly demanding specifications that each application requires.

Flat Panel Based Systems

Many Film Replacement Digital Radiography Systems use high energy detectors based around Flat Panel Detectors. These are normally based upon the Thales FlashScan 33, the Varian PaxScan 4030 (the High Energy version is no longer manufactured), and the Perkin Elmer XRD 16" detectors. While these panels are designed for operation at high energies, such operation is only possible if the detector electronics are appropriately shielded against x-rays. Shaw Inspection Systems have provided integrated shielding systems for all these panels to allow them to be used at energies upto 15MeV.

CCD Camera Based Systems

While high energy systems based on flat panel detectors are popular, the panels themselves are only available in a limited number of sizes and resolutions. Alternative sizes and resolutions can be acheived by using a conventional x-ray imaging system based on a scintillation screen optically coupled to a CCD camera. Using this approach Shaw Inspection Systems can manufacture detector systems with imaging areas ranging from 25mm square to 1.0 x 1.5m.

Designing and manufacturing a good, efficient high energy detector is technologically demanding, requiring careful matching of all the imaging components. In addition CCD cameras can be damaged by high energy radiation, and providing good radiation sheiling to protect the camera is a difficult task. Shaw Inspection Systems has considerable expertise in the design and manufacture of such detectors and use a number of innovative shielding techniques to virtually eliminate potentially damaging, life shortening 'sparkle' from the bombardment of the CCD device by direct and scattered radiation.

Another limitation of flat panels, is the relatively modest frame rates that can be acheived (with the possible exception of the most recent Perkin Elmer panels) and their relatively low sensitivity. Again this can be overcome with speialist CCD camera based systems. A number of specialist scientific CCD camera technologies allow real time (25 to 30 frame per second) imaging at very low light levels. These cameras have allowed Shaw to manufacture a number of real time radiography systems for use at up to 15MeV.