Fluxen portable equipment for direct x-ray spectra measurements

The proper use of imaging equipment in radiological units is based on an appropriate knowledge of the physical characteristics of the X-ray beam used. The FLUXEN PROJECT is working on a portable apparatus which, together with dedicated software, is able to perform an exact spectral reconstruction of the radiation produced in diagnostic Xray tubes. The apparatus characterizes the energy spectrum of radiological tubes and also provides a measurement of the emitted flux. The acquisition system is based on a commercial CZT detector (3 x 3 x 2 mm), produced by AMPTEK. cooled by a Peltier cell, with a high efficiency in the diagnostic X-ray energy range and modified in the shaping electronics so as to obtain a faster response. The acquiring section lies on a NuDAQ I/O card with a sampling frequency of up to 20 MHz. The signal produced by the X-ray tube is wholly acquired and an off-line analysis is made so as to make possible an accurate recognition of pile-up events and a reconstruction of the emitted spectra. The reconstructed spectra of a General Electric Senographe DMR mammographic X-ray tube are show