FleX-RAY · Project

Flexible, Low-Cost X-Ray Detector That Wraps Around Complex Shapes

manufacturingPrototypeTRL 4

Imagine trying to X-ray a curved pipe or a bent knee — today's detectors are flat and rigid, like trying to wrap a tablet screen around a football. FleX-RAY built a detector out of thin scintillating fibres that can actually bend and flex around whatever shape you need to image. Because the electronics sit outside the X-ray beam instead of behind it, the whole thing costs far less and lasts much longer. The result is sharper images on tricky shapes, with less radiation needed to get them.

By the numbers

10x

higher resolution compared to current X-ray detectors

50%

cost reduction targeted (half the price of current approaches)

consortium partners across 5 countries

demo deliverables including prototypes and sensor planes

The business problem

What needed solving

Current X-ray detectors are rigid, expensive, and degrade quickly under radiation — making it difficult and costly to inspect curved or complex-shaped objects accurately. In industrial NDT, this means defects in pipes, turbine blades, and aerospace parts get missed. In medical imaging, compensating for poor geometry coverage requires higher radiation doses, increasing patient risk.

The solution

What was built

The team built a complete FleX-RAY prototype with a flexible scintillating fibre detector, a hardware prototype with analog frontend and FPGA electronics, two versions of 3D shape sensor planes (glass foil and glass fibre grid), and an image reconstruction algorithm. They also produced material model results for polystyrene fibres and promotional videos demonstrating the fibre-filling process.

Audience

Who needs this

NDT equipment manufacturers (GE Inspection, Olympus, Waygate Technologies)Medical X-ray and CT scanner manufacturers (Siemens Healthineers, Philips, Canon Medical)Food and beverage inspection system makers (Mettler-Toledo, Ishida, Eagle Product Inspection)Aerospace MRO companies inspecting complex composite structuresOil & gas pipeline inspection service providers

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Industrial Non-Destructive Testing

mid-size

Target: NDT service providers and manufacturers of complex metal/composite parts

If you are an NDT company struggling with inaccurate defect detection on curved pipes, turbine blades, or aerospace components — this project developed a flexible X-ray detector that wraps around complex geometries instead of forcing flat-panel imaging. The objective targets 10x higher resolution at half the price of current detectors, which means fewer missed defects and lower equipment costs.

Medical Imaging Equipment

enterprise

Target: Medical device manufacturers and radiology equipment suppliers

If you are a medical imaging company dealing with radiation dose concerns and poor imaging of complex body features — this project built a bendable X-ray detector that conforms to patient anatomy. By placing electronics outside the beam path, the detector avoids radiation damage that limits shelf life of current systems, cutting maintenance costs and enabling higher pixel density.

Food & Security Inspection

mid-size

Target: Manufacturers of food inspection lines and airport security scanning equipment

If you are a food safety or security equipment manufacturer dealing with high costs of X-ray inspection systems and limited ability to image irregularly shaped items — this project created a detector architecture where multiple fibre grids can be stacked for finer resolution and particle tracking. The design targets half the manufacturing cost of current approaches while improving detection accuracy.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

How much cheaper is this compared to current X-ray detectors?

The project objective states the technology targets half the price of current approaches. This cost reduction comes from placing hardware and electronics outside the beam path, eliminating the need for expensive radiation-hardened components and reducing manufacturing complexity.

Can this scale to full production volumes?

The project produced working prototypes including a complete hardware prototype with analog frontend and FPGA, plus two versions of 3D shape sensor planes. Scaling to industrial production would require further engineering — the core fibre-based architecture is designed for lower manufacturing costs, but commercial production lines have not been demonstrated yet.

What is the IP situation and how can I license this technology?

FleX-RAY was funded as a Research and Innovation Action under FET-Open, meaning IP typically stays with the consortium partners. The coordinator is Tech Hive Labs (Greece). Licensing discussions would need to go through the consortium, particularly for the detector architecture, shape-sensing fibre technology, and image reconstruction algorithms.

How does the flexible detector actually maintain image accuracy when bent?

The system uses fibre Bragg gratings to interrogate the detector's own shape in real-time. This means the detector knows its exact geometry at any moment, so the image reconstruction algorithm can compensate automatically — no need to know the shape of the object beforehand.

Is this technology ready to integrate into our existing inspection line?

Based on available project data, the technology is at prototype stage with demonstrated hardware including FPGA-based electronics and scintillating fibre grids. Integration into existing systems would require further development and customization. The project ended in January 2024, so the team may be seeking industrial partners for the next development phase.

What resolution improvement can we actually expect?

The project objective claims 10x higher resolution compared to current approaches. This is achieved through the ability to stack multiple grids of fibres for finer resolution as well as particle tracking capabilities. Actual validated resolution figures would need to be confirmed with the research team.

Consortium

Who built it

The FleX-RAY consortium is compact — 5 partners across 5 countries (Germany, Greece, Romania, Sweden, UK), giving it broad European coverage. It is research-heavy with 3 research organizations and 1 university, reflecting its FET-Open origins as a breakthrough concept. The single industrial partner and 1 SME (20% industry ratio) mean commercialization will likely require new industrial partnerships. The coordinator, Tech Hive Labs in Greece, is a non-profit research entity. For a business looking to adopt this technology, the key question is whether the consortium has secured or is seeking an industrial development partner to bridge from prototype to product.

TECH HIVE LABS ASTIKI MI KERDOSKOPIKI ETAIREIACoordinator · EL
THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELDparticipant · UK
OPTOELECTRONICA - 2001 SAparticipant · RO
RISE RESEARCH INSTITUTES OF SWEDEN ABparticipant · SE

How to reach the team

Tech Hive Labs (Greece) — contact via SciTransfer for a warm introduction to the research team

Order a report on this consortium See TECH HIVE LABS ASTIKI MI KERDOSKOPIKI ETAIREIA profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how flexible X-ray detection could cut your inspection costs? SciTransfer can arrange a confidential briefing with the FleX-RAY team and assess fit for your application.

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