QuantaMax
Siemens' photon-counting CT detector — the direct-conversion cadmium-telluride (CdTe) detector at the heart of the NAEOTOM Alpha family. QuantaMax measures every incoming X-ray photon individually and assigns it to an energy bin, eliminating the scintillator + photodetector conversion step that defines every prior clinical CT (including LSO / LYSO PET-era detectors — different modality, same architectural principle). Spectral information is available on every scan; Quantum HD reconstruction supports effective in-plane resolution to approximately 0.11 mm at 0.2 mm slice thickness.
Why it matters to buyers: QuantaMax is the defining feature of photon-counting CT. NAEOTOM Alpha's clinical capabilities (always-on spectral, ultra-high-resolution, photon-counting noise rejection) all derive from the QuantaMax detector.
Why it matters to engineers: QuantaMax is a direct-conversion CdTe detector with entirely different service patterns than scintillator-based CT detectors. Detector module service, cooling, and bias-voltage management are QuantaMax-specific. Photon-counting-CT commissioning involves energy-bin calibration that has no analog in energy-integrating CT.