Self-developed key chips for the photon counting industrial chain, "Parity Electronics" aims to accelerate the entry of medical and industrial detection into the photon era | Early-stage project
Text | Zhang Bingbing
Editor | A Zhi
Early lesions in the human body, high - speed moving obstacles during vehicle driving, and the surface stress state of materials - this information, which was once difficult to capture, is expected to be "seen" more clearly and efficiently with the development of photon detection technology.
Taking medical imaging CT detection as an example, traditional CT detectors use the principle of "indirect measurement". They need to first convert X - rays into visible light and then into electrical signals. This process is prone to information loss and noise superposition. Photon - counting CT, on the other hand, uses semiconductor detectors such as deep silicon, cadmium zinc telluride (CZT), and cadmium telluride (CdTe), which can achieve "direct conversion" from X - rays to electrical signals, accurately count individual X - ray photons, and measure their energy.
The photon - counting detector eliminates the scintillation crystal and introduces a pixel - level readout circuit. Therefore, it reduces optical crosstalk and can perform detection with smaller pixels, significantly improving detection accuracy and sensitivity. In addition, the photon - counting detector can count X - photons individually without the need for charge integration, and the imaging speed is also greatly improved. The imaging frame rate can exceed thousands or even tens of thousands of fps.
For medical CT detection, this means higher accuracy and lower radiation dose impact. Currently, photon - counting CT products from Siemens, Canon, Neusoft Medical, United Imaging Healthcare, etc. have entered the commercialization stage.
The high - precision, high - integration ASIC readout chip is the core component of photon - counting CT. It is necessary to place various circuits in a single pixel for counting and energy measurement, while ensuring that each pixel does not interfere with each other and adapting to the different electrical characteristics of the crystal. Only a few teams in the world can accomplish this.
Parity Electronics was established in 2017 and focuses on the design of single - photon sensitive devices and readout circuits, covering SPAD, SiPM, high - precision single - photon signal processing chips ASIC, and related system solutions. Its products can be applied in fields such as medical imaging, industrial inspection, and intelligent sensing, and several products have been launched and put into practical use.
I. From Medical Imaging to Industrial Inspection, Photon Detection Improves Imaging Efficiency
The main products of Parity Electronics in the field of high - energy ray detection include the MPI501 X - ray photon - counting detector module, the MPT3128 energy - spectrum X - ray detector signal readout chip, etc. Among them, the MPI501 X - ray photon - counting detector module consists of an ASIC (signal processing) and a sensor chip (photoelectric conversion). It is a module for X - ray detection. A single chip has nearly ten thousand independent pixels and can achieve single - photon - level detection. The ASIC can be paired with various sensor materials. For example, when paired with CZT, it can be used for high - energy X - ray photon - counting detection. When paired with a silicon sensor chip, it can be used for material detection, stress detection, XRF imaging, and other applications.
The MPT3128 energy - spectrum X - ray detector signal readout chip integrates 128 independent channels in total and supports the collection of positive and negative polarity signals. Combined with the CZT crystal, it can record gamma rays up to 3 MeV at most, and the energy resolution of its 511 keV energy peak can reach 1%. It is a readout chip dedicated to CZT detectors with a leading integration level in the industry.
Parity Electronics' MPT3128 Chip
The capabilities of the chip module are reflected in the performance improvement of downstream products. In the medical field, time resolution is a key indicator for PET - CT detection. The smaller the time resolution, the higher the PET - CT detection accuracy and the lower the radiation dose of the radiopharmaceutical used.
Shen Xinjia, the CEO of Parity Electronics, introduced that the CTR time resolution of the PET - CT equipment equipped with Parity Electronics' chips can reach within 180 picoseconds. "The most core part of every medical imaging company that makes PET - CT is the chip. This chip determines the performance ceiling of the machine. The chips we provide now are among the best in the world in terms of integration, processing performance, anti - interference ability, power consumption, and other indicators. The time resolution of less than 180 picoseconds for the whole machine is an absolute advantage. Whether using scintillation crystals such as LYSO for indirect photon detection or using crystals such as CZT for direct photon counting, we have already prepared corresponding solutions."
In the field of industrial inspection, photon - counting detectors have spectral capabilities and can perform classified counting according to energy thresholds, thereby separating the signals of different substances mixed together in traditional X - ray imaging.
"Put simply, the original X - ray imaging produces a density image. Based on different transmittances and densities, a grayscale image is formed. However, photon detection can measure the sudden - change energy of materials at absorption edges such as K and L, and use the relationship between the absorption - edge energy and the atomic number of elements to achieve rapid element identification and quantitative analysis." Shen Xinjia took the security inspection scenario as an example. Traditional X - ray security scanners can distinguish that high - density objects are metals and low - density objects are organic substances, while photon - counting security scanners can accurately distinguish the metal composition of objects (such as rare metal elements) to screen out suspicious items.
In industrial non - destructive testing such as stress detection and new - energy battery detection, this characteristic can support more accurate measurement data and a more simplified testing procedure.
II. Match the Industrial Development Rhythm and Promote Product Mass Production and Introduction
Based on the market space and industry development progress, Parity Electronics adopts different product and market strategies for the medical and industrial markets. Shen Xinjia introduced that the medical imaging field pays more attention to imaging speed and energy integration, aiming to explore the physical limits with large - scale imaging equipment. The downstream whole - machine technology in this field is relatively mature, but the progress of domestic detector chips is still relatively backward. Therefore, Parity Electronics will focus more on the domestic substitution of materials and chips. Currently, it has deeply cooperated with large downstream customers of photon - counting CT to achieve mass production and tens of millions of revenue.
Comparison of CT Images of the Stapes in the Ear, the "Smallest Bone" in the Human Body
In the field of industrial inspection, there are many types of demands, from stress detection and defect non - destructive testing to new - energy battery detection and mineral exploration. The key lies in using detector chips as a starting point to solve specific detection problems. Since the downstream technology of the industry is still in the exploration stage, Parity Electronics not only provides chip modules but also offers more solutions such as algorithms to help downstream industries quickly upgrade to the single - photon technology era.
"In the field of new - energy battery detection, we have made some breakthroughs in the process inspection of electrode coating, rolling, etc., and have entered the engineering stage. In addition, in the field of metal surface stress detection, detector chips used to rely on imports. Now, together with downstream customers, we have achieved self - controllability of the entire stress gauge from chips, modules to the whole machine. Currently, it has passed the national technical inspection and is moving towards mass production and industrialization." Shen Xinjia summarized.
The "Research Report on the Development and Application of Information Photonics Technology (2024)" released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology shows that according to data calculations by Photonics21 and others, the global photon market size in 2023 (including information and energy, core chip devices and materials, module - level, and system - level products) was approximately $920 billion. Among them, the optical computing and storage market size was approximately several billion dollars, the optical connection market was approximately tens of billions of dollars, and the optical acquisition and optical presentation market was approximately hundreds of billions of dollars. Driven by the AI industry, the market size is expected to reach $1.2 trillion in 2027.
Regarding future growth opportunities and competition from international giants, Shen Xinjia believes that the core competitiveness of Parity Electronics lies in "understanding physics better". Crystal materials such as cadmium zinc telluride and cadmium telluride have unique physical properties under X - ray imaging. The key is how to design the circuit based on the physical properties of the materials. "Our consistent view is that chips must 'co - exist' with materials and systems, so that the chips serve the overall system in every process, rather than making the materials and systems adapt to the chips. With this in - depth coupling ability, we have become a key hub in the industrial chain and joined hands with the industrial chain to jointly promote real system - level innovation."
In terms of future development, Parity Electronics will further promote the expansion of customers in the medical and industrial fields and accelerate the introduction of products in the field of automotive lidar. It is expected that the future revenue growth rate will remain at about 50% per year.
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This article is from the WeChat official account "36Kr Future Industries". Author: Zhang Bingbing, A Zhi. 36Kr is published with permission.