US Patent 7557356 Camera-based x-ray digital image detector

A camera-based x-ray digital image detectors can contain an assembly of a scintillator screen, a wide-angle optical lens or fisheye lens, and a digital image sensor. Images formed by x-ray radiation on the scintillator screen can be projected onto a much smaller area image sensor through a fisheye or super-wide-angle optical lens, hence forming a highly distorted image thereon. Transparent lead-contained glasses or plastics can be utilized to shield image sensor from x-ray damage. Imaging distortion and light falloff caused by the lens optics can be corrected by software algorithms. Sub-millimeter resolution may be achieved with reduced design complexity and substantially lower manufacturing costs.