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Recent Progress in X-Ray Medical Imaging and Detectors

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomedical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 1949

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Physics ‘A Pontremoli’, University of Milan & INFN Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: medical physics; medical imaging; in silico modelling

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Guest Editor
Department of Medical Equipment, Electronic and Information Technologies in Healthcare, Medical University, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria
Interests: medical physics; biomedical engineering; 3D printing; anthropomorphic phantoms

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

On the wave of major technological innovations, X-ray medical imaging devices are undergoing an epochal revolution that promises a consistent impact on clinical practice. The introduction of innovative detectors aiming at reducing noise and costs, at improving spatial resolution, and at discriminating the energy of the X-ray photons is unveiling new perspectives and possibilities in the analysis of the produced images. At the same time, innovative sources are feeding new ideas, opening a brand-new class of applications that potentially mitigate limitations of conventional apparatuses. This is framed by the introduction of innovative software methodologies, such as AI and in silico medicine, which are revolutionizing the acquisition, processing, analysis, and reporting of medical imaging, and by the development of innovative X-ray sources that may shape the characteristics of the new apparatuses.

This Special Issue aims to bring together manuscripts on cutting-edge technologies and methodologies that are revolutionizing X-ray medical imaging. Topics of interest of this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Innovative detectors for X-ray medical imaging.
  • Read-out methodologies for detectors in medical imaging.
  • Innovative sources for X-ray medical imaging.
  • In silico replication of X-ray detectors and radiological apparatuses.
  • Dispersive or spectral techniques in multi-energy Computed Tomography.
  • X-ray detector models.
  • Spectral CT and Spectral radiography.
  • AI applications in medical imaging acquisition, elaboration, and display.
  • Quantitative radiology.
  • Software methodology for analysis of radiological images.
  • Innovative approaches and technology for dose reduction in radiology.
  • Phantoms for image quality evaluations.

Dr. Antonio Sarno
Dr. Nikolay Tinkov Dukov
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • X-ray medical detectors
  • photon-counting detectors
  • quantitative medical imaging
  • innovative scanning geometries
  • image processing

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 10663 KB  
Article
Assessment of Image Quality Performance of a Photon-Counting Computed Tomography Scanner Approved for Whole-Body Clinical Applications
by Francesca Saveria Maddaloni, Antonio Sarno, Alessandro Loria, Anna Piai, Cristina Lenardi, Antonio Esposito and Antonella del Vecchio
Sensors 2025, 25(23), 7338; https://doi.org/10.3390/s25237338 - 2 Dec 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1490
Abstract
Background: Photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) represents a major technological advance in clinical CT imaging, offering superior spatial resolution, enhanced material discrimination, and potential radiation dose reduction compared to conventional energy-integrating detector systems. As the first clinically approved PCCT scanner becomes available, establishing a [...] Read more.
Background: Photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) represents a major technological advance in clinical CT imaging, offering superior spatial resolution, enhanced material discrimination, and potential radiation dose reduction compared to conventional energy-integrating detector systems. As the first clinically approved PCCT scanner becomes available, establishing a comprehensive characterization of its image quality is essential to understand its performance and clinical impact. Methods: Image quality was evaluated using a commercial quality assurance phantom with acquisition protocols typically used for three anatomical regions—head, abdomen/thorax, and inner ear—representing diverse clinical scenarios. Each region was scanned using both ultra-high-resolution (UHR, 120 × 0.2 mm slices) and conventional (144 × 0.4 mm slices) protocols. Conventional metrics, including signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), slice thickness accuracy, and uniformity, were assessed following international standards. Task-based analysis was also performed through target transfer function (TTF), noise power spectrum (NPS), and detectability index (d′) to evaluate diagnostic relevance. Results: UHR protocols provided markedly improved spatial resolution, particularly in the inner ear imaging, as confirmed by TTF analysis, though with increased noise and reduced low-contrast detectability in certain conditions. CT numbers showed linear correspondence with known attenuation coefficients across all protocols. Conclusions: This study establishes a detailed technical characterization of the first clinical PCCT scanner, demonstrating significant improvements in terms of spatial resolution and accuracy of the quantitative image analysis, while highlighting the need for noise–contrast optimization in high-resolution imaging. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Progress in X-Ray Medical Imaging and Detectors)
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