Linear analysis of signal and noise characteristics of a nonlinear CMOS active-pixel detector for mammography

The imaging properties of a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) active-pixel photodiode array coupled to a thin gadolinium-based granular phosphor screen with a fiber-optic faceplate are investigated. It is shown that this system has a nonlinear response at low detector exposure levels (<10 mR), resulting in an over-estimation of the detective quantum efficiency (DQE) by a factor of two in some cases. Errors in performance metrics on this scale make it difficult to compare new technologies with established systems and predict performance benchmarks that can be achieved in practice and help understand performance bottlenecks. It is shown the CMOS response is described by a power-law model that can be used to linearize image data. Linearization removed an unexpected dependence of the DQE on detector exposure level. - Highlights: • A nonlinear response of a CMOS detector at low exposure levels can overestimate DQE. • A power-law form can model the response of a CMOS detector at low exposure levels, and can be used to linearize image data. • Performance evaluation of nonlinear imaging systems must incorporate adequate linearizations.