Commonly used periapical film requires very high radiation exposures to obtain high quality radiographic images for diagnosis of dental disease. The primary reason for the high exposures is that an intensifying screen is not used with the film to avoid loss of resolution. Since film does not absorb X-rays as efficiently as an intensifying screen, relatively large exposures are necessary to obtain adequate image contrast. In the present Phase I SBIR proposal, a new storage phosphor system is investigates which has previously been shown to exhibit spatial resolutions in excess of 10 1p/mm, which is the minimum resolution required for intraoral radiography. It is proposed that the new storage phosphor system be investigated to determine its potential as a replacement for periapical film. This would yield a high resolution storage phosphor screen and a low-cost digital image acquisition and display system suitable for wide-scale use by oral medicine practitioners.
