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Describing an Atom
The neutrons and protons (collectively called nucleons) give the atom its mass. This isn't the actual mass but that
relative to other atoms. 1 atomic mass unit (amu) = 1/12 the mass of a carbon-12 atom.
The amu's of different components of atoms are shown in the table below.
Electrons
Electron Shells
Electromagnetic Waves
Electromagnetic (EM) radiation arises from oscillating electric and magnetic fields. It can be
considered either as a stream of quanta (photons, particles) or waves.
Concerning the wave aspect, they can be considered to be sinusoidally varying electric and
magnetic field vectors pointing at right angles to one another and to the direction of the travel
of the wave.
Quantum Aspects
When considering EM radiation as particles, the particles are small packets, or quanta, of energy called photons
that travel in straight lines. The energy of the photon packets is measured in joules, but this is inconveniently
small when describing EM radiation so the unit of electron-volt is used (1 ev = 1.6 x 10 -19 J).
Intensity
The intensity (i.e. photon energy or field strength) is related to the characteristics of the wave by Planck's
constant.
E = hf Key: E = photon energy
h = Planck's constant
f = frequency
Rearranging the earlier equation of velocity = fλ and assuming that the velocity is fixed (1) gives you:
f=1/λ
i.e. the frequency is inversely proportional to the wavelength. Substituting this into the Planck's constant
equation give you:
E=h/λ
i.e. the photon energy is inversely proportional to the wavelength.
The diagram to the left represents a beam emanating from a point source (S). As the beam
moves further from the source, it spreads (area B is larger than area A).
Photon fluence = number of photons per unit area at a given time and given cross-section
of beam (e.g. number of photons in square B)
Energy fluence = total amount of energy of different photons at a given time at a given
cross-section of the beam per unit area (total energy of photons in square B)
Energy fluence rate = total energy per unit area passing through a cross section per unit
time (watts/mm2) (e.g. total energy of photons in square B per second). Aka beam intensity.
As the beam moves further from the source, the area of the beam increases. The area of the
beam is the distance squared.
A ∝ d2 Key: A = area
d = distance
This means the same number of photons are spread over a larger area and the strength of the beam decreases
(the intensity is inversely proportional to the area).
Intensity ∝1/A
Intensity ∝ 1 / d2
This relationship between the distance from the beam and the energy of the beam is the
inverse square law as the intensity is inversely proportional to the distance from the beam
squared.
Summary
1. Radiation is both a wave and particles
2. An electromagnetic wave is sinusoidal perpendicular to time and distance
4. Velocity = f x λ
7. Inverse square law states intensity is inversely proportional to the distance squared but only if:
Equipment
Cathode
Filament
Some cathodes have two filaments for broad and fine focusing
Focusing cup
Made of molybdenum as:
o High melting point
o Poor thermionic emitter so electrons aren't released to interfere with electron beam from
filament
Anode
Target made of tungsten for same reasons as for filament
Rhenium added to tungsten to prevent cracking of anode at high temperatures and usage
Set at angle to direct x-ray photon beam down towards patient. Usual angle is 5°-15°
Definitions
Target, focus, focal point, focal spot: where electrons hit the anode
Actual focal spot: physical area of the focal track that is impacted
Focal track: portion of the anode where the electrons bombard. On a rotating anode this is a circular
path
Effective focal spot: the area of the focal spot that is projected out of the tube
Stationary anode: used in mobile fluoroscopy, dental radiology and ward radiography. Consists of an anode fixed in
position, the electron beam is constantly streaming onto one small area
Rotating anode: used in most radiography. Consists of a disc with a thin bevelled rim of tungsten around the
circumference that rotates at 50Hz. Because it rotates it overcomes heating by having different areas exposed to the
electron stream. It consists of:
Silver lubricated bearings between the stem and rotor that have no effect on heat transfer but allow
very fast rotation at low resistances
W = waveform. The more uniform the waveform the lower the heat production
kVp = maximum accelerating voltage
Heat is normally removed from the anode through radiation through the vacuum into the conducting oil
outside the glass envelope. The molybdenum stem conducts very little heat to prevent damage to the
metal bearings.
Heat capacity:
A higher heat capacity means the temperature of the material rises only a small amount with a large
increase in heat input.
Heat rating:
This is the mAs at a particular kV and is related to the heat produced by the machine. Allowable mA, or the
amount of mA produced per unit time that is acceptable, decreases with:
Decreasing effective focal spot size (heat spread over a smaller area)
Larger target angles (see anode heel effect, more material for electron beam to travel through,
hence, higher heat production)
Decreasing disk diameter (smaller circumference and area to disperse heat to)
Anode cooling chart: As well as withstanding high temperatures, an anode must be able to release the
heat quickly too. This ability is represented in the anode cooling chart. It shows how long it takes for the
anode to cool down from its maximum level of heat and is used to prevent damage to the anode by giving
sufficient time to cool between exposures.
X-ray gets attenuated on the way out by the target material itself causing a decrease in intensity gradually
from the cathode to anode direction as there is more of the target material to travel through. Therefore,
the cathode side should be placed over the area of greatest density as this is the side with the most
penetrating beam. Decreasing the anode angle gives a smaller focal spot size, which is useful in imaging,
but a larger anode heel effect, resulting in a less uniform and more attenuated beam.
** smaller angle = smaller focal spot size but larger anode heel effect **
Others
Window: Made of beryllium with aluminium or copper to filter out the soft x-rays. Softer (lower energy) x-
ray photons contribute to patient dose but not to the image production as they are attenuated and
absorbed into the patient and do not have enough energy to pass through to the detector.
Glass envelope: Contains vacuum so that electrons do not collide with anything other than target.
Insulating oil: Carries heat produced by the anode away via conduction.
Accelerating Potential
This is the voltage applied across the tube to create the negative to positive gradient across the tube and
accelerate the electrons across the anode. Normally 30-150 kV. UK mains supply is 230V 50Hz of
alternating current. When the charge is negative, the accelerating potential is reversed (the cathode
becomes positive and the anode negative). This means the electrons are not accelerated towards the
anode to produce an x-ray beam. Ideally you want a uniform output with a constant charge. This is done
by rectification.
Full wave rectification: Use rectification circuit to convert negative into positive voltage. However, there
are still points at which it is zero and most of the time it is less than the maximum kV (kVp). This would
lead to a lot of lower energy photons.
1. Three phase supply: Three electrical supplies are used, each applied at a different time. The "ripple"
(difference between maximum and minimum current) is about 15% of the kVp.
2. High frequency generator: This can supply an almost constant potential. The supply is switched on and
off rapidly (1kHz) which can then be rectified. They are much more compact than three phase supply and
more commonly used.
Shorter exposures and lower patient doses - as output higher, can run exposure for shorter time to
get same output
Filament Current
The current (usually 10A) heats up the filament to impart enough energy to the electrons to be released
i.e. it affects the number of electrons released.
Tube Current
This is the flow of electrons to the anode and is usually 0.5 - 1000mA.
Summary:
Filament current is applied across the tungsten cathode filament (10A) and affects the number of
electrons released
Tube current is applied across the xray tube from cathode to anode and affects the energy and
number of electrons released
The electrons hit the anode with a maximum kinetic energy of the kVp and interacts with the anode by
losing energy via:
Elastic interaction: rare, only happens if kVp<10eV. Electrons interact but conserve all their energy.
Inelastic interaction: causes excitation/ionisation in atoms and releases energy via electromagnetic
(EM) radiation and thermal energy
Interactions
At the anode, electrons can interact with the atoms of the anode in several ways to produce x-ray photons.
1. Outer shell interaction: low energy EM released and quickly converted into heat energy.
2. Inner shell interaction: produces characteristic radiation via interaction with inner shell electrons.
3. This movement from a high to a lower energy state releases energy in the form of an x-ray photon.
It is called "characteristic" as energy is dependent on the element not the tube voltage. Energy is
released in characteristic values corresponding to the binding energies of different shells.
2. Bremsstrahlung
3. The energy loss from this diversion is released as a photon (Bremsstrahlung radiation)
Bremsstrahlung causes a spectrum of photon energies to be released. 80% of x-rays are emitted via
Bremsstrahlung. Rarely, the electron is stopped completely and gives up all its energy as a photon. More
commonly, a series of interactions happen in which the electron loses energy through several steps.
Bombarding electron interacts with inner shell electron Bombarding electron interacts with whole atom, does
not penetrate atom
Radiation released due to electron dropping down into lower Radiation released due to diversion of bombarding
energy state electron as a result of the atomic pull
X-ray beam energy depends on element of target atoms not X-ray beam energy depends on tube voltage
tube voltage
Summary of Steps:
4. Tube current means cathode is negatively charged and anode is positively charged
5. Electrons, therefore, are accelerated towards to positively charged anode, which gives them a
certain energy
6. The electrons strike the anode and the energy released via interaction with the anode atoms
produces x-ray photons
7. These x-ray photons leave the x-ray tube through the window in an x-ray beam towards the patient
8. They pass through the patient to the film to produce the x-ray image (this section covered in the
chapter "Interaction with Matter")
X-Ray Spectrum
The resulting spectrum of X-ray photon energies released is shown in the graph to the left. At a specific
photoenergy there are peaks where more
x-rays are released. These are at the characteristic radiation energies and are different for different
materials. The rest of the graph is mainly Bremsstrahlung, in which photons with a range of energies are
produced. Bremsstralung accounts for the majority of x-ray photon production.
Beam Quality: the ability of the beam to penetrate an object or the energy of the beam.
Waveform of
Current
Having a more
uniform current
(rectified) results in -
Increased:
Average energy
Quantity of x-ray
photons