Lecture 3

X-ray
Agenda
•Tube Voltage (kVp)
•Interaction with Anode.
•Tube Cooling
•Interaction with Matter.
•X-ray Quality vs. Quantity
•Filtration
•Collimators
•Grids
Tube Voltage and X-ray
Generator
Tube Voltage
• A potential difference (voltage) is impressed across
the X-ray tube with the filament (or cathode) at a
negative potential and the target (or anode) at a
positive potential.

• In most X-ray equipment, ac is converted to direct

current (dc), and the voltage between filament and
target is kept at or near its maximum value. The
conversion of ac to dc is called rectification.

• This potential difference is known as the

“accelerating voltage” or kVp. It ranges from 20 to Full-wave rectified
single-phase and
150 KV. three-phase tube 4
Block Diagram of the X-ray
Machine

5
Detailed Block Diagram

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 X-ray Generator
• Modifies incoming line voltage and
current to provide an X-ray tube with the
power needed to produce an X-ray beam
of the desired peak-kilovoltage (kVp),
current (mA), and duration (Time).

• Control panel: Permits the selection of

technical factors and initiation of
radiographic exposures: mA, kVp, Time

• Transformers: modify the voltage of

incoming AC line voltage by increasing or
decreasing the voltage in a circuit. 7
 X-ray Generator
Three transformers:
• Step-up transformer or High- voltage
transformer: Supplies high voltage to the X-ray
tube (voltage increases and current decreases)

• Step-down transformer or Filament transformer:

Supplies power needed to heat the filament of the
X-ray tube (voltage decreases and current increases)

• Autotransformer: Supplies voltage for the two

circuits and provides a selector for the desired kVp
and mA.
V1/V2 = N1/N2 Autotransformer 8
 X-ray Generator

• Rectifiers: Convert AC into DC required by the X-ray

tube.
• A rectifier restricts current flow in an X-ray tube in one
direction, from cathode to anode, thereby preventing
damage to the X-ray tube filament.
• Two types: Half wave and Full wave.

• High-voltage cable: Special highly insulated cables

that deliver high voltage to the X-ray tube.
• Enters the tube housing through insulated openings.

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Interaction with Anode
Energy Spectrum of X-ray
• e-’s hitting the anode target create X-rays in two different types:

• Bremsstrahlung (braking) X-rays – a wide spectrum of X-ray energies due to

slowing down of e- beam.

• Characteristic X-rays – specific to the target material (tungsten).

Bremsstrahlung (braking) X-rays
• The maximum energy that an
X-ray can have corresponds to the
entire kinetic energy of the
electron, i.e. the kVp value.

• A wide spectrum of X-ray energies

is produced.
Characteristic X-rays
Characteristic X-rays

Energy is released in characteristic values corresponding to the difference in binding energies

of different shells:
For tungsten: Ek - El ~ 59 keV, Ek - Em ~ 69 keV
Energy Spectrum of X-ray
• “Characteristic X-rays” are seen as sharp lines, superimposed upon a broad energy
distribution from “general or Bremsstrahlung radiation”.
• The maximum value of the wide range of
X-ray energies produced is given by the
kVp.
• keV is the energy that an electron gains
when it travels through a potential of one
kilo volt.
1 kVp 🡪 1 keV of electron K.E
• The energy of the X-ray beam represents
the weighted average of all different
energies, typically about two-thirds of the The energy spectrum of a beam
kVp value. emitted from an X-ray tube with a
tungsten anode operating at 140 kVp.
Tube Cooling
Tube cooling
• Only ~1% of the electrons’ energy
is converted into X-rays: the
remaining 99% is dissipated as
heat.

• Heat transfer
• Radiation
• Conduction
• Convection

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Anode cooling curve
• Energy ratings for the anode and the tube housing are expressed in terms of
heat storage capacities.

• The heat storage capacity of a certain tube component is the total number
of heat units that may be absorbed without component damage.

• For single-phase power:

kVp x mA x s = HU
• For three-phase power:
kVp x mA x s x 1.35 = HU

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Anode cooling curve
• An anode thermal-characteristics
chart describes the rate at which
energy may be delivered to an anode
without exceeding its capacity for
storing heat.
• The chart also shows the rate at which
heat is radiated from the anode to the
insulating oil and housing.
• Chart helps to determine the time
interval needed between
subsequent exposures, so giving it The anode heat-storage capacity is 72,000 HU
sufficient time to cool between
exposures.
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Rotating targets damaged by excessive loading or slow
rotation of the target. 21
Interaction with Matter
X-ray Imaging
• The tube – X-rays are produced
• The body – X-rays interact with the body
• The image – X-rays interact with film, Detectors
• Film processing, Signal analysis
Interactions in the Body:
As X-rays hit the body, three types of interactions occur:
• Transmission – penetrates through
body to hit radiographic film.
• Absorption (Photoelectric effect)
x-ray is absorbed by tissues – does
not contribute to image.
• provides the contrast in X-ray
images
• Scattering (Compton effect) –
contributes to background noise
“fog”
• Its contribution to image should
be minimized to improve the
CNR.
Photoelectric Effect

hν
(photoelectron)
Ek = hν − EB

•At low X-ray energies, the photoelectric effect produces high contrast between bone (high
attenuation) and soft tissue (low attenuation).
Photoelectric Effect
Compton Scattering

•The probability of an X-ray undergoing Compton scattering is independent of tissue

atomic number.
X- Ray Attenuation

Mass attenuation coefficient

water

K-edge

At higher X-ray energies the

contribution from Compton
scattering becomes more
important, and contrast
therefore drops.
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X-ray Quality vs. Quantity
X-ray Quality vs. Quantity

• The X-ray photons are released in a beam with a range of energies (X-ray
spectrum) out of the window of the tube.

• The energy of the x-rays (keV) is determined by the voltage applied (kVp).
X-ray emission spectra for a
100-kVp tungsten target
▪ The amount of x-rays produced is operated at 50, 100, and
150 mA.
directly proportional to the product
of tube current in milliamperes and
exposure time in seconds (mA・sec) .

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X-ray Quality vs. Quantity
• Quality = penetrating power (energy)
• Quantity = # of X-rays in beam

• ↑kVp = ↑ speed of e- = ↑ quality

• ↑kVp = ↑ tube current = ↑ quantity
• ↑mA = more e- hit target = ↑ quantity
• ↑s = longer exposure time = ↑ quantity
Effect of kVp on image
Soft radiation Optimum radiation Hard radiation
Low KVp High KVp
Filtration
Problem:
• Only X-rays of sufficient energy (quality) can transmit through the body to
create an image.
• Low-energy (low- quality) X-rays are attenuated to a greater extent than those
of high-energy (photoelectric absorption).

• Thus, low-energy X-rays don’t contribute substantially to image, but add to

patient radiation dose.

• Therefore, we need to reduce low-energy X-rays, and at the same time

have the right quantity of X-rays hitting the body part.
Filtration
• Is X-ray beam attenuation as it traverses several attenuating materials
before reaching the patient.

• Its effect: decreases the total number of photons but increases the
average energy of photons in the beam.

• Filtration “hardens” the X-ray beam:

• i.e., X-ray beam has a higher average energy and is able to penetrate
more dense (i.e., harder) substances such as bone.
Filtration

• Three kinds of filtration:

• Inherent – due to glass envelope of tube, oil insulation and the exit window.

• Added – removable filters of aluminum, copper, tin, or lead may be placed

in the beam to block low energy x-rays.

• Special –Different thicknesses and composition of body parts determine the

amount of X-ray penetration.
• Is used to image body parts that have varying thickness or density.
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“Special Filtration”

Equalization filters are sometimes used to compensate for the large differences in x-ray
transmission
Filtration
• Total filtration = inherent filtration + added filtration
(removable filters).
• Filtration is measured in terms of:
half-value layer (HVL) or
half-value thickness (HVT).

• HVL of a beam (m): is the thickness of a material (attenuator)

required to reduce the intensity (exposure rate) of an x- or γ -ray
beam to half.
• HVLs are measured with solid “absorbers” (attenuators) such as
thin sheets of aluminum, copper, or lead of uniform thickness.

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Filtration
• The HVL of a monoenergetic beam of x- or γ-rays in any medium is:
HVL = (ln 2) / μ

• For a polyenergetic x-ray beam, the energy distribution changes as

the beam penetrates an attenuating medium, no single value for
the attenuation coefficient may be used. An effective attenuation
coefficient may be computed as:
μeff = (ln 2)/ HVL
Example:
• A narrow beam containing 2000 monoenergetic photons is reduced
to 1000 photons by a slab of copper 10−2 m thick. What is the total
linear attenuation coefficient of the copper slab for these photons?
HVL of the beam? 42
Filtration
Answer:

The HVL of the beam is 10-2 m of copper. 43

Collimators
Collimators
• The coverage of the X-ray beam is determined by the bevel angle of the X-ray tube
anode.
• The field-of-view (FOV): is the size of the imaged area that contains the object of
interest to be measured.
• As the beam reaches the patient, the beam coverage can be much wider than
the FOV being imaged.
• This leads to:
• Increased patient dose
• Increased Compton scattered X-rays
• A collimator (also called a beam-restrictor) is placed under the port of the X-ray tube
to restrict the dimensions of the beam to the imaging FOV.

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 Collimators

The collimator consists of sheets of lead,

which can be slid over one another to
restrict the beam in either one or two
dimensions.
Grids
• Scattered X-rays (also called secondary radiation) provide little spatial
information, and contribute to a background signal (fog) which reduces the
image contrast.
• An anti-scatter grid is placed between the patient and the X-ray detector. It
is part of the “bucky” that holds the film cassette (detector).
• Purpose: reduces scattered radiation that hits film to improve contrast.
• Grid is made of lead strips
• Grid ratio = height/width of interspace
• Hitting prep button causes grid to vibrate to blur out grid lines (doesn’t show
up on film).
Since the X-ray beam is in fact slightly diverging, the anti-scatter grid can also be
manufactured at the same diverging angle
Grids
• Tradeoff between contrast and signal intensity.
• Having finite thickness, the lead septa absorb some primary radiation, and
X-rays which are scattered only at very small angles (containing useful spatial
information) are also absorbed.
• Therefore, the improvement in image contrast while using an anti-scatter
grid comes at a cost in terms of an increase in the X-ray dose required to
produce a certain image intensity in the presence and absence of the grid.

• “Bucky factor”:
is the factor by which the patient dose is increased while using an anti-scatter
grid to maintain a certain image intensity in the presence and absence of the
grid.
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