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2002
Conference Paper
Titel
QWIP LWIR Cameras with NETD < 10mK and improved low frequency drift for long observation time in medicine and research
Alternative
QWIP-Kamera für das langwellige Infrarot mit einer NETD < 10mK und verbesserter Niederfrequenzstabilität für lange Beobachtungszeiten in Medizin und Forschung
Abstract
The performance of QWIP FPA modules reported in earlier publications has been significantly improved upon thus allowing the achievement of, as yet, unparalleled thermal resolution of NETD=5.2mK for the 256x256 40µm pitch devices and NETD=9.6mK for the 640x512 24µm pitch devices. These very low NETD's are exclusively achieved using the Fraunhofer Institute's new patented photovoltaic QWIP technology which permits longer integration times of 30-40ms without any saturation effect of the ROIC. The concept of this technology is explained elsewhere. These low NETD's, coupled with other improvements in camera design and manufacturing, helps to further enable a new class of very demanding imaging applications in medicine and medical research. The evolution of QWIP FPA over the past five years, with their low NETD, detector uniformity, and high pixel yield, along with improvements in camera control and processing electronics, represents key technical innovations responsible for the reemergence of medical infrared imaging through the development of a new infrared medical imaging technique called Dynamic Infrared Imaging or DIRI. The QWIP's high thermal and spatial resolution coupled with very fast data acquisition capabilities fill the essential requirements of DIRI. Other features required by DIRI applications are the need for stable operation with drifts in the image below a few mK, which allow longer data collecting time. Longer data collection time provides the camera the capability to detect the functional behavior of the autonomic nervous system which operates on a time scale of 0.1 to 0.2Hz. AIM has issued the AIM256QHPIR high precision infrared camera system to fulfill these specific requirements. The features of the camera system are presented together with a sample of clinical DIRI data that helps to illustrate the superior performance of current QWIP based imaging systems.
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