X-ray Machines and Digital Radiography

 X-rays were discovered by the German physicist Wilhelm Konrad Röntgen in

November 1895. He called the 'new kind of ray' or X-rays, X for the
unknown.With these new rays, he could make a photograph of his wife's
hand showing the bones and her wedding ring.
 Soon afterwards, their usefulness to visualize the internal anatomy of
humans was established. Today, imaging with X-rays is perhaps the most
commonly used diagnostic tool with the medical profession, and the
techniques from a simple chest radiography to a digital subtraction
angiography or computer tomography depend on the use of X-rays.

BASIS OF DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY

 A radiological examination is one of the most important diagnostic aids
available in the medical practice. It is based on the fact that various
anatomical structures of the body have different densities for the X-rays.
 When X-rays from a point source penetrate a section of the body, the
internal body structures absorb varying amounts of the radiation. The
radiation that leaves the body has a spatial intensity variation, i.e. an
image of the internal structure of the body.
 The commonly used arrangement for diagnostic radiology is shown in
Fig.1. The X-ray intensity distribution is visualized by a suitable device
like a photographic film.
 A shadow image is generated that corresponds to the X-ray density of the
organs in the body section. The examination technique varies according
to the clinical problem. The main properties of X-rays, which make them
suitable for the purposes of medical diagnosis, are their:
1. Capability to penetrate matter
2. differential absorption observed in various materials
 3. Ability to produce luminescence and its effect on photographic
emulsions.

Figure1. Basic set up for a diagnostic radiology image formation process

 The X-ray picture is called a radiograph , which is a shadow picture

produced by X-rays emanating from a point source. The X-ray picture is
usually obtained on photographic film placed in the image plane. The
skeletal structures are easy to visualize and even the untrained eye can
sometimes observe fractures and other bone abnormalities.

 Chest radiographs are mainly taken for examination of the lungs and the
heart. Because of the air enclosed in the respiratory tract, the larger
bronchiare seen as a negative contrast, and the pulmonary vessels are seen
as a positive contrast against the air-filled lung tissue. Different types of
lung infections are accompanied by characteristic changes, which often
enable a diagnosis to be made from the location, size and extent of the
shadow.

 Heart examinations are performed by taking frontal and lateral films. The
evaluation is performed partly by calculating the total heart volume and
partly on the basis of any changes in shape. For visualization of the rest
of the circulatory system and for the special examinations of the heart, use
is made of injectible, water-soluble organic compounds of iodine. A contrast
medium is injected into an artery or vein, usually through a catheter
 placed in the vessel. Therefore, all the larger organs of the body can be
examined byvisualizing the associated vessels and this technique is called
angiography.

 The entire gastro-intestinal tract can be imaged by using an emulsion of

barium sulphate as a contrast medium. It is swallowed or administered to
diagnose common pathological conditions such as ulcers, tumours or
inflammatory conditions. Negative and positive contrast media are used for
visualizing the spinal canal, the examination being known as myelography.
 The central nervous system is usually examined by pneumography, i.e.,
filling the body cavities with air.
 Computerized tomography has greatly reduced the need for some of the
invasive neuro- radiological methods, which involve discomfort and a certain
risk for the patient.
NATURE OF X-RAYS
 X-rays are electromagnetic radiation located at the low wavelength end of
theelectromagnetic spectrum.
 The X-rays in the medical diagnostic region have wavelength of the order of 10–
10m. They propagate with a speed of 3 × 1010 cm/s and are unaffected by

electric and magnetic fields.

 According to the quantum theory, electromagnetic radiation consists of
photons, which are conceived as 'packets' of energy.

 Their interaction with matter involves an energy exchange and the relation
between the wavelength and the photon is given by

where

h = Planck's constant = 6.32 × l0–34 J s.

c = velocity of propagation of photons (3 × 10 10 cm/s).

ν = frequency of radiation

λ = wavelength

 A vibration can be characterized either by its frequency or by its wavelength.

 In the case of X-rays, the wavelength is directly dependent on the voltage
with which the radiation is produced. It is, therefore, common to characterize
X-rays by the voltage, which is a measure of the energy of the radiation.

Properties of X-rays

 Because of short wavelength and extremely high energy, X-rays are able to
penetrate through materials which readily absorb and reflect visible light. This
forms the basis for the use of X-rays for radiography and even for their
potential danger. X-rays are absorbed when passing through matter.
 The extent of absorption depends upon the density of the matter. X-rays
produce secondary radiation in all matter through which they pass. This
secondary radiation is composed of scattered radiation, characteristic
radiation and electrons. In diagnostic radiology, it is scattered radiation which
is of practical importance.
 X-rays produce ionization in gases and influence the electric properties of
liquids and solids. The ionizing property is made use of in the construction of
radiation-measuring instruments.
 X-rays also produce fluorescence in certain materials to help them emit light.
Fluoroscopic screens and intensifying screens have been constructed on the basis
of this property. X-rays affect photographic film in the same way as ordinary
visible light.
 The International Commission on Radiological Units and Measurements has
adopted Rontgen as a measure of the quantity of X-radiation. This unit is
based on the ability of radiation to produce ionization and is abbreviated 'R'.
One R is the amount of x-radiation which will produce 2.08 × l09 ion pairs per
cubic centimetre of air at standard temperature (0°C) and pressure (760
mmHg at sea level and latitude 45°). Other units derived from the Rontgen
are the millirontgen (mR = 1/1000 R) and the microrontgen (μR = 10–6 R).

PRODUCTION OF X-RAYS

 X-rays are produced whenever electrons collide at very high speed with
matter and are thus suddenly stopped.
 The energy possessed by the electrons appears from the site of the collision
as a parcel of energy in the form of highly penetrating electromagnetic
waves (X-rays) of many different wavelengths, which together form a
continuous spectrum.
 X-rays are produced in a specially constructed glass tube, which basically
comprises
1. a source for the production of electrons,
2. an energy source to accelerate the electrons,
3. a free electron path,
4. a mean of focusing the electron beam and
5. a device to stop the electrons.
 Stationary mode tubes and rotating anode tubes are the two main types of X-
ray tubes.
 Stationary Anode Tube

 Fig. shows the basic components of a stationary anode X-ray tube.

 The normal tube is a vacuum diode in which electrons are generated by

thermionic emission from the filament of the tube.

 The electron stream is electrostatically focused on a target on the anode

by means of a suitably shaped cathode cup.

 The kinetic energy of the electrons impinging on the target is converted

into X-rays. Most electrons emitted by the hot filament become current
carriers across the tube. It is, therefore, possible to independently set

i. Tube current by adjusting the filament temperature,

ii. Tube voltage by adjusting primary voltage.

 The cathode block, which contains the filament, is usually made from
nickel or from a form of stainless steel. The filament is a closely wound
helix of tungsten wire, about 0.2 mm thick, the helix diameter being
about 1.0–1.5 mm.
 The target is normally comprised a small tablet of tungsten about 15
mmwide, 20 mm long and 3 mm thick soldered into a block of copper.
Tungsten ischosen since it combines a high atomic number (74)—making it
comparatively efficient in the production of X-rays. It has a high melting
point (3400°C) enabling it to withstand the heavy thermal loads.
 Copper being an excellent thermal conductor, performs the vital function of
carrying the heat rapidly away from the tungsten target. The heat flows
through the anode to the outside of the tube, where it is normally
 removed by convection. Generally, an oil environment is provided for
convection current cooling.
 In addition, the electrodes have open high voltages on them and must be
shielded. The tube will emit X-rays in all directions and protection needs
to be provided except where the useful beam emerges from the tube. In
order to contain the cooling oil and meet the above-mentioned
requirements, a metal container is provided for completely surrounding
the tube. Such a container is known as a 'shield'.

 Since a lot of heat will be generated by the tube, and hence this heat
will cause the oil temperature to rise, the oil will expand. Being a
liquid, oil is incompressible, hence a bellows, either of oil- resistant
rubber or thin metal, is provided to accommodate the expansion.

 Due to the penetrating nature of transformer oil, particularly when it

is hot, every joint on a shield has to be hermetically sealed, either
soldered or sealed with a rubber gasket. Also, the shield must be
made shockproof by an efficient earthing arrangement.

 Stationary anode tubes are employed mostly in small capacity X-

ray machines.

Rotating Anode Tube

 With an increasing need in radiology for more penetrating X-rays,

requiring higher tube voltages and current, the X-ray tube itself becomes
a limiting factor in the output of the system. This is primarily due to
the heat generated at the anode.
 The heat capacity of the anode is a function of the focal spot area.
Therefore, the absorbed power can be increased if the effective area of
the focal spot can be increased.
 This is accomplished by the rotating anode type of X-ray tubes.
 The tubes with rotating anode are basedon the removal of the target
from the electron beam before it reaches too high a temperature under
the electron bombardment and the rapid replacement of it by another
cooler target.
 Fig: Rotating Anode X-Ray Tube
 The construction of a typical rotating anode X-ray tube is shown in Figure above.

 The anode is a disk of tungsten or an alloy of tungsten and 10%

rhenium. This alloy helps to reduce the changes in the anode track due
to stress produced in the track as a result of the rapidly changing
temperature.

 The anode rotates at a speed of 3000–3600 or 9000–10000 rpm.

 The tungsten disk that represents the anode has a bevelled edge that
may vary from 5°–20°. Typical angles are around 15°, in keeping with
the line focus principle.

 These design elements help to limit the power density incident on the
physical focal spot while creating a small effective focal spot.

 With the rotating anode, the heat produced during an exposure is spread
over a large area of the anode, thereby increasing the heat-loading
capacity of the tube and allowing higher power levels to be used which
produces more intense x-radiation.

 The rotor is made from copper, either cast or from special quality rod.

 The molybdenum stem projecting from the rotor is either soldered or

the copper of the rotor may be cast round it. The choice of
molybdenum is dictated by the need for a strong metal with a melting
point high enough to permit contact with a very hot tungsten disk.

 The anode rotation system is a high speed system. Therefore, the

bearings must be properly lubricated.

 The high temperature environment inside the tube precludes most

normal lubricants, that would have the additional disadvantage of
 releasing enough vapour to spoil the condition of high vacuum, which
is necessary for the proper functioning of the tube. The situation has
been remedied by the successful development of metal lubricants. The
commonly used lubricants are lead, gold, graphite or silver. These
lubricants are usually applied to the bearing surfaces in the form of a
thin film.

 The tube housing serves several technical purposes. It is a part of the

electrical isolation between the high voltage circuits and the
environment. The housing is lead-lined to keep the amount of leakage
radiation below legal levels, thereby providing radiation protection for
both the patient and the operator. Finally, the tube housing is an
important part of the waste-heat handling system. While housings for
tubes used at low mean power levels can be adequately air-cooled, it
becomes necessary to provide additional cooling in case of higher
power levels, which is done by circulating water through a heat
exchanger contained in the tube housing or by circulating insulating
oil through an external radiator.

X-RAY MACHINE

Figure: Block diagram of an X-ray machine

 Basically, there are two parts of the circuit. One of them is for
producing high voltage, which is applied to the tube's anode and
comprises a high voltage step-up transformer followed by
 rectification.

 The current through the tube follows the HT pathway and is

measured by a mA metre. A kV selector switch facilitates change
in voltage between exposures.

 The voltage is measured with the help of a kV metre. The

exposure switch controls the timer and thus the duration of the
application of kV.

 To compensate for mains supply voltage (230 V) variations, a voltage

compensator is included in the circuit.

 The second part of the circuit concerns the control of heating X-ray
tube filament. The filament is heated with 6–12 V of AC supply at a
current of 3–5 amperes.

 The filament temperature determines the tube current or mA, and,

therefore, the filament temperature control has an attached mA
selector. The filament current is controlled by using, in the primary
side of the filament transformer, a variable choke or a rheostat.

 The rheostat provides a stepwise control of mA and is most

commonly used in modern machines.

 A preferred method of providing high voltage DC to the anode of

the X-ray tube is by use a bridge rectifier using four valve tubes
or solid state rectifiers. This results in a much more efficient
system than the half wave ofself-rectification methods.

 The kV meter is connected across the primary of the HT

transformer. It actually measures volts, whereas it is calibrated in
kV, by using an appropriate multiplication factor of the turns-
ratio of the transformer.

 In the older types of diagnostic X-ray generators, the kV meters

indicated only no- load voltage. In order to obtain the load voltage,
which varies with the tube current, a suitable kV metre
compensation is provided in the circuit. The kV meter
compensator is ganged to the mA selector mechanically. Therefore,
the mA is selected first and the kV setting is made afterwards
 during the operation of the machine.

 Moving coil meters are used for making current (mA)

measurements, while for shorter exposures, an mAs meter, which
measures the product of mA and time in seconds is used. Moving
coil meters have now been generally replaced by digital mA and
mAs meters.

High Voltage Generation

 Voltages in the range of 30–200 kV are required for the production of

X-rays for diagnostic purposes, and they are generated by a high
voltage transformer.
 A high ratio step up transformer is used so that the voltages applied to
primary winding are small in comparison to those taken from the
secondary winding. Typically, the ratio would be in the range of 1:500
so thatan input of 250 V would produce an output of 125 kV.
 Usually the high tension transformer assembly is immersed in special
oil which provides a high level of insulation.
 Self-rectified Circuit (One Pulse): The high voltage is produced
by using a step-up transformer whose primary is connected to an
auto-transformer. The secondary of the HT transformer can be
directly connected to the anode of the X-ray tube, which will conduct
only during the half cycles when the cathode is negative with respect to
the anode or the target. This arrangement of self-rectification is used in
mobile and dental X-ray units.These machines have maximum tube
currents of about 20 mA and a voltage of about 100 kV.

 Full Wave Rectification X-ray Circuit (Two Pulse): In the self-

rectified units, X-rays are produced in a burst and a considerable
amount of exposure time is lost during the half-cycle when the X-ray
tube is not conducting. By using a full wave bridge rectifier circuit, the
exposure time for the same radiation output is reduced by half in
comparison to the one pulse system.This circuit produces X-rays
during each half-cycle of the applied sinusoidal 50 Hz mains supply
voltage as the anode would be positive with respect to the cathode
over both the half-cycles. Full wave rectified circuits are used in
medium and high capacity X-ray units which are most commonly
employed for diagnostic X-ray examination.
 High Frequency Generators
 High frequency is generated by first converting the 50 Hz power line
frequency into high frequency oscillations in the converter circuit. The
frequency conversion permits the use of much smaller transformers
than those required with conventional equipment.
 A schematic diagram of a typical high frequency generator is shown in
Figure.

 The circuit uses same switching arrangement for thyristors througha

series resonant circuit, comprising L and C1, where L is the inductance
of the primary of the high tension transformer.

 If the circuit is switched by the thyristors at its resonant frequency,

the effective current flowing through L is maximized.

 This primary current is transformed and rectified in the high tension

circuit.

 The net voltage appearing across the X-ray tube is determined by

the voltage present on C2.

 This voltage, in turn, is supplied by the charging current and drained

by the current flowing through the X-ray tube.

High Tension Cable

 In view of the very high voltages applied to the X-ray tube, it is

necessary to use special highly insulated cables for its connections
to the generator. Sincea typical X-ray machine may employ voltages
in excess of 100 kV, the design and subsequent effect of the cable
capacitance on the voltage applied to the X-ray tube must be
 considered.
 A cross-sectional view of a high voltage cable is shown below.
 The centre of the cable comprises three conductors individually
insulated for the low filament voltages and surrounded by semi-
conducting rubber.
 This, in turn, is surrounded by non-conducting rubber which provides
the insulation against the high voltage also carried by the centre
conductors.
 The cable is shielded with a woven copper braiding, which is earthed,
and finally covered with a protective layer, usually vinyl or some other
plastic.

 The metal braid is connected to the centre tap of the high voltage
transformer, which is grounded. By using a centre-tapped
secondary in the high voltage transformer, the voltage on each
cable is reduced to half of the X-ray tube voltage relative to
ground, consequently reducing the amount of dielectric required
in the high voltage cables, thereby making them smaller in
diameter.

 The grounded metal braid also serves as a safety path to ground

for the high voltage, should there be a breakdown in the dielectric
materialfor any reason.
 A typical cable capacitance of high voltage cables is 130–230 pF/m.
The effect of the cable capacitance is that the energy is stored during
the conduction period of the rectifiers and the energy is delivered to the
tube during the non-conducting period. This would change the
average value of the current and voltage across the X-ray tube, which
increases the power delivered to the tube.