New high-performance read IC from ams drives cost reduction and efficiency for medical and industrial digital X-ray equipment manufacturers

     Ams announces the launch of its family of state-of-the-art reading ICs for digital x-ray flat panel detectors (FPDs), the AS585xB family, which offers customers new flexible connector options, It also reduces the cost of its integration into the system.

     The new AS585xB digital readout ICs are 16-bit, 256-channel charge-to-digital converters known for their extremely low noise for static and dynamic digital X-ray scanners, digital radiography, mammography, fluoroscopy, interventional imaging As well as industrial non-destructive testing (NDT) systems that produce clear, detailed images.

     The new product complements the AS5850A readout IC launched in June 2020 and expands ams' unique portfolio of medical and industrial image sensing solutions that offer outstanding accuracy, high acquisition speed, low noise and ultra-low power consumption.

     Jose Vinau, Marketing Director for the Medical and Professional Sensors business line at ams, said: "The AS585xB devices, with their ultra-low noise, high bandwidth and low power consumption, enable our customers to generate very high quality X-ray images. These features mean that This makes them not only suitable for new higher performance IGZO detectors, but also compatible with existing TFT flat panel technology."

     Like the earlier AS5850A devices, the AS585xB products also meet the industry's highest performance benchmarks for read ICs used in medical devices. The 'B' series also now features a new flex chip standard package design: this design has a layer of reinforcement on the low density side, making it compatible with standard connectors. This provides imaging equipment manufacturers with a more flexible option, as the AS5850A has a proprietary connector that requires an expensive Anisotropic Conductive Film (ACF) bonding process.

     Using the flexible circuit design of the AS585xB, the imaging device can be assembled from an in-house data acquisition system and a detector based on the AS585xB read IC (procured from a third-party FPD manufacturer), simplifying production. The flexible AS585xB circuit boards can be manually assembled into data acquisition systems without the need for expensive and complex ACF bonding processes.

     The new AS585xB products now also feature a Built-In Self-Test function to quickly and accurately verify that the data acquisition system is working properly after assembly. This helps manufacturers quickly identify the source of errors in a data acquisition system or detector system.

     The AS585xB series offers three product variants. The AS5850B is optimized for low noise and high speed, enabling FPDs to acquire high-quality images in dynamic or high-speed imaging applications such as surgical X-rays, while reducing radiation dose and minimizing patient impact. Also for industrial scanning applications, the AS5850B has an optimized line scan time of 20µs, but can operate at speeds as low as 15µs, a high-speed performance that increases the throughput of automated optical inspection equipment.

     The AS5852B, also introduced today, is optimized for low-power operation, enabling battery-operated portable imaging devices to acquire high-quality images while extending battery life. The new AS5851B achieves a balance between power and speed optimization.

     All three versions of the AS585xB family share the same size and pinout, so FPD manufacturers can easily build a range of products to meet the needs of different customers or market segments with a single board design and host system interface.

     Pierre Laboisse, Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing at ams, said: "With the addition of standard packaging options for flexible circuit board chips, high-performance ams read ICs are now available for cost-competitive medical imaging. market segments and the wider industrial market, opening up more global markets for more ams products.”