X-ray Interaction

with Matter

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 X-ray Interaction with Matter
• Electromagnetic Radiation interacts with structures
with similar size to the wavelength of the radiation.
• Interactions have wave like and particle like
properties.
• X-rays have a very small wavelength, no larger than
10-8 to 10-9.

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X-ray Interaction with Matter
• The higher the energy of the x-ray, the shorter the
wavelength.
• Low energy x-rays interact with whole atoms.
• Moderate energy x-rays interact with electrons.
• High energy x-rays interact with the nuclei.

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X ray interaction with Matter
A beam of x-rays may be:
A. Transmitted: pass through unaffected
B. Absorbed: transfer all energy to matter and do not pass through the
patient to the film
C. Scattered: diverted with or without energy loss

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Attenuation
Attenuated x-rays are those that are
absorbed or scattered. It is an
exponential process and, therefore, the
beam intensity never reaches zero.
Attenuation of the beam can be
represented numerically by:
• Half value layer
• Linear attenuation coefficient
• Mass attenuation coefficient
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Half Value Layer
This is the measure of the penetrating power of the x-ray
beam and is the amount of matter required to attenuate the
beam to half its value. It differs for different materials and
strengths of beams. To calculate the factor of reduction use: 2HVL
• e.g. if the HVL of a beam is 2mm, by what factor is the beam
attenuated by if it passes through 8mm of material?
– 8mm = 4 HVLs
– 24 = 16
– The beam is attenuated by a factor of 16

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Linear Attenuation Coefficient (LAC)
• This is the probability of the material to attenuate
the beam. It can also be expressed as the amount of
energy transferred to the medium per unit of track
length of the particle. The linear atteunation
coefficient (µ) is calculated by:

µ = 0.693 / HVL µ = LAC, units: m-1

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Mass Attenuation Coefficient (MAC)
• Independent of density and depends only on the
atomic number of the material and photon energy.

• MAC = µ / ρ ρ = density
MAC units = m2k-1

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Effect of Beam Quality on Attenuation
In reality, the x-ray beam focus is not a fine point and contains photons of
different energies.

Wide Beam
• Increased width of beam = increased scatter = greater attenuation = larger
actual HVL.

Heterogenous Beam
• The beams produced by x-ray tubes are photons of a wide range of energies.
• The lower-energy photons are attenuated proportionally more than the
higher-energy photons and are removed, leaving behind higher energy
photons aka "beam hardening".
• The resulting beam is of a higher average energy.
• In can, therefore, penetrate tissue easier and the HVL is increased. 9
X-ray Interactions with Matter
• Classical or Coherent
Scattering Two Forms of
• Compton Effect X-ray
• Photoelectric Effect Interactions
Important to
• Pair production
Diagnostic X-
• Photodisintegration
ray

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 1. Classical or Coherent Scattering

• Low energy x-rays of about 10 keV interact in this manner.

• Incident photon interacts with the atom.
• There is a change in direction.
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 Classical or Thompson Scattering

• There is no loss of energy and no ionization.

• Photon scattered forward.
• Because these are low energy x-rays, they are of little
importance.
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 Classical Scattering
• At 70 kVp only a few percent of the x-rays undergo
this form of scattering.
• Classic Scatter may contribute to the graying of the
image called film fog.

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 2. Compton Effect
• Moderate energy x-ray photon through out the diagnostic x-
ray range can interact with outer shell electron.
• This interaction not only changes the direction

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Compton Effect or Compton Scattering

2. Compton Effect

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 Compton Scattering
• The x-ray continues in an
altered direction with
decreased energy.
• The energy of the Compton-
scattered x-ray is equal to the
difference between the energy
of the incident x-ray and the
energy imparted to the
electron. 16
Compton Scattering
• The energy imparted to the electron is equal to its
binding energy plus the kinetic with which it leaves
the atom.
• During Compton-scattering most of the energy is
divided between the scattered photon and the
secondary electron.
• The Secondary Electron is called a Compton Electron.

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 Compton Scattering
• The scattered photon
and secondary electron
will retain most of its
energy so it can interact
many times before it
losing all of it’s energy.

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Compton Effect
• The scattered photon will ultimately be absorbed
photoelectrically.
• The secondary electron will drop into a hole in the
outer shell of an atom created by an ionizing event.
• Compton-scattered photons can be deflected in any
direction.

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Compton Effect
• A zero angle deflection will result in no energy loss.
• As the angle approaches 180 degrees, more energy is
transferred to the secondary electron.
• Even at 180 degrees, 66% of the energy is retained.

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Compton Effect
• Photons scattered back towards the incident x-ray
beam are called Backscatter Radiation.
• While important in radiation therapy, backscatter in
diagnostic x-ray is sometimes responsible for the
hinges on the back of the the cassette to be seen on
the x-ray film

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 Compton Effect
• The probability of Compton
Effect is about the same for
soft tissue or bone.
• This decreases with
increasing photon energies.
• Compton scatter decreases
with increased kVp.

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 Features of Compton Scattering
• Most likely to occur • With outer-shell electrons
• With loosely bound electrons.
• Increased penetration through
• As x-ray energy increases tissue w/o interaction.
• Increased Compton relative to
photoelectric scatter.
• Reduced total Compton
scattering.

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 Features of Compton Scatter
• As atomic number of • No effect on Compton
the absorber increases Scatter
• As mass density of
absorber increases • Proportional increase in
Compton Scatter.

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 3. Photoelectric Effect
• X-rays in the
diagnostic range can
undergo ionizing
interactions with
inner shell electron
of the target atom.
• It is not scattered
but totally absorbed.

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 Photoelectric Effect

• The Photoelectric Effect is a photon

absorption interaction. 26
Photoelectric Effect
• The electron removed from the target atoms is called
a photoelectron.
• The photoelectron escapes with kinetic energy equal
to the difference between the energy of the incident
x-ray and the binding energy of the electron.

27
Photoelectric Effect
• Low anatomic number target atoms such as soft
tissue have low binding energies.
• Therefore the photoelectric electron is released with
kinetic energy nearly equal to the incident x-ray.
• Higher atomic number target atoms will have higher
binding energies.

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Photoelectric Effect
• Therefore the kinetic energy of the photoelectron
will be proportionally lower.
• Characteristic x-rays are produced following a
photoelectric interaction to those produced in the x-
ray tube.
• These characteristic x-rays are also secondary
radiation and acts like scatter.

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Photoelectric Effect
• The probability of a photoelectric interaction is a
function of the photon energy and the atomic
number of the target atom.
• A photoelectric interaction can not occur unless the
incident x-ray has energy equal to or greater than the
electron binding energy.

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Photoelectric Effect
• The probability of photoelectric interaction is
inversely proportional to the third power of the
photon energy.
• The probability of photoelectric interaction is directly
proportional to the third power of the atomic
number of the absorbing material

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 Effective Atomic Numbers
• Human Tissue • Effective Atomic #
– Muscle – 7.4
– Fat – 6.3
– Bone – 13.8
– Lung – 7.4
• Other Material
– Air – 7.6
– Concrete – 17
– Lead – 82

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Photoelectric Effect
• A probability of interaction to the third power
changes rapidly.
• For the photoelectric effect this means that a small
variation in atomic number or x-ray energy results in
a large changes in chance of an interaction.
• This is unlike Compton interactions.

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 Features of the Photoelectric Effect
• Most likely to occur • With inner-shell electrons
• With tightly bound
electrons.
• When the x-ray energy is
greater than the electron-
binding energy.

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 Features of the Photoelectric Effect
• As the x-ray energy • Increased penetration
increases through tissue without
interaction.
• Less photoelectric
effect relative to
Compton effect.
• Reduced absolute
absorption.
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 Features of the Photoelectric Effect
• As the atomic number • Increases proportionally
of the absorber the cube of the Z.
increases • Proportional increase in
• As mass density of the photoelectric effect.
absorber increases

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 4. Pair Production
• If the incident x-ray has
sufficient energy, it may
escape the electron
cloud and come close
enough to the nucleus
to come under the
influence of the strong
electrostatic field of the
nucleus.
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 Pair Production

• The interaction with the nucleus strong electrostatic

field causes the photon to disappear and in its place
appear two electrons.
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 Pair Production

• One is positively charged and called a positron while the other

remains negatively charged. This is called Pair Production.
• It take a photon with 1.02 MeV to undergo Pair Production.
• Therefore it is not important to diagnostic x-ray. 39
 5. Photodisintegration

• High energy x-ray photons with energies above 10 MeV

can escape interaction with both the electrons and
nucleus electrostatic fields.
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 Photodisintegration
• It is absorbed into
the nucleus that
excites the nucleus
resulting in the
release of a
nucleon or other
nuclear material.
This is referred to
as:

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 Photodisintegration

• Photodisintegration. Like pair production, the high energy

needed to cause this makes it unimportant to diagnostic
radiography.
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6. Differential Absorption
• Only Compton and Photoelectric Effects are
important interactions that the x-ray may have with
matter in the diagnostic spectrum.
• More important than the x-rays resulting from these
effects are a third type, those transmitted through
the body without interacting.

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Differential Absorption
• Those that make it through the body contribute to
the radiograph.
• It should be clear than Compton Scatter X-rays
contribute no useful information.
• The film does not recognize the scattered x-rays as
representing an interaction of the straight line from
the target.

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Differential Absorption
• These scattered x-rays result in film fog, a generalized
dulling of the image on the radiograph by film
densities not representing diagnostic information.
• To reduce this type of fog, we use techniques and
apparatus to reduce the amount of scatter reaching
the film.

45
Differential Absorption
• X-rays that undergo photoelectric interaction provide
diagnostic information to the image receptor.
• Since they do not reach the film, these x-rays are
representative of anatomic structures with high x-ray
absorption characteristics. These structures are said
to

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Differential Absorption
• Be Radiopaque.
• The other x-rays that penetrate the body and are
transmitted without interaction are said to be
Radiolucent. Radiolucent matter appears as high
density or dark areas on the radiograph.

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 Differential Absorption
• Radiopaque • Appears Bright
• Radiolucent • Appears Dark

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49
Differential Absorption
• Except at very low kVp, most x-rays that interact do
so by the Compton effect; this is one reason why
radiographs are not as sharp as photographs.
• As a rule of thumb, less than 5% of x-rays incident on
the patient reaches the film and less than one half of
these interact with the film.

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Differential Absorption
• The radiographic image is the result of the
difference between those x-rays absorbed
photoelectrically and those not absorbed at all.
• This characteristic is called differential absorption.

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Differential Absorption
• The radiographic image results from less than 1% of
the x-rays emitted from the tube.
• Therefore careful control of the x-ray beam is
necessary to produce high quality radiographs!

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Differential Absorption
• Differential Absorption increases as the kVp is
lowered but lowered kVp results in a higher patient
radiation exposure.
• A compromise is needed for each examination.

53
Differential Absorption

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Differential Absorption
• As kVp is increased fewer interaction occur so more
x-rays are transmitted without interaction.
• Compton Scatter is independent of the atomic
number of the absorbing material and is inversely
proportional to the x-ray energy.

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Differential Absorption
• At low energies the majority of the x-rays interactions
are photoelectric, where as at high energies,
Compton scattering predominates.
• As kVp is increased, more x-rays reach the film so
lower output (lower mAs) is required.

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 Differential Absorption
• To image small

Probability of Interaction
differences in soft
tissue, one must use
low-kVp in order to
get maximum
differential
absorption.
• This is the principle
for mammography.
X ray energy
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 Differential Absorption
Probability of Interaction

X ray energy
• High kVp can be used for examinations of bony structures since the
crossover for photoelectric and Compton scattering is about 40
keV. This lowers patient exposure.
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Dependence on Mass Density
• We know that we could image bone even if the
differential absorption were not atomic number
related because bone has a higher mass density than
soft tissue.
• The interaction between x-rays and soft tissue is
proportional to the mass density of the tissue.

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 Mass Densities of Materials Important in
Radiography
• Human Tissues • Mass Density
• Muscle • 1.00
• Fat • 0.91
• Bone • 1.85
• Lung • 0.32

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 Mass Densities of Materials Important in
Radiography
• Contrast Media • Mass Density
• Barium • 3.5
• Iodine • 4.93
• Air • 0.001293
• Other
• Concrete • 2.35
• Lead • 11.35

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62
Mass Densities of Materials Important in
Radiography

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Contrast Examinations
• In Medical radiography. To better image soft tissue
structures such as internal organs, contrast media are
used.
• The primary items are Barium with an atomic
number of 56 and iodine which has an atomic
number of 53.
• Air can be combined with the contrast.

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Exponential Attenuation
• An interaction such as photoelectric effect is called
an absorbing process because x-ray disappear.
• All interactions in which the x-ray photon is only
partially absorbed such as the Compton effect is
called a scattering process. Pair reduction,
Photodisintegration and Classic scatter are scattering
processes.

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Exponential Attenuation
• The total reduction in the number of x-rays
remaining in an x-ray beam following penetration
through a given thickness of matter is called
attenuation.
• X-rays are attenuated exponentially which means
they have do have a fixed range of matter.

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 Exponential Attenuation

• They are reduced in number by a given percentage for each

incremental thickness of the absorber. 67
End of Lecture

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