RT 304 - LAB

June 15, 2007

X-ray Unit
3 components of x-ray unit
1) X-ray tube
2) Operating console
3) High voltage generator

External/Internal structure
1) Support structure
2) Protective housing
3) Glass/Metal envelope

6 ways to support x-ray tube

1) Ceiling support – most frequent use support structure
2) Floor-to-ceiling support
3) Floor mount
4) Fluoroscopy
5) C-arm
6) Portable/Mobile machine – use at patients bed side

SID – Source-to-Image receptor-Distance

 Distance between the x-ray tube and the patient

Leakage radiation
 Radiation that pass trough protective housing
 Contributes nothing in the way of diagnostic information
 Results in the unnecessary radiation exposure to the patient and the radiographer

Useful beam or Primary radiation

 Radiation that pass through the window

3 cardinal principles in radiation protection

1) Shielding – maximize
2) Time – minimize
3) Distance – maximize

ALARA – As Low As Reasonably Achievable

Protective housing contains OIL

 Purpose of OIL: serve as electric insulator and thermal conductor (thermal cushion)

Glass Envelope
 X-ray tube is a vacuum tube
 VACUUM means EMPTY SPACE
 Made up of PYREX glass
Vacuum
 Relatively large from 30 to 50 cm2 and 20 cm in diameter

Diode – 2 electrodes

Crooke’s tube
 Not a vacuum tube
 Contained controlled qualities gas w/in the glass enveloped

Coolidge tube – modern Crooke’s tube

June 22, 2007

Internal structure of an x-ray tube

1) Cathode (-)
2) Anode (+)

CATHODE has two parts:

1) Filament – coil of wire
2) Focusing cup – metal cup where filament is embedded

In a FILAMENT electrons are being emitted when heated

Filament current – Low current flow

Thermal jolt – JOLT (sudden or abrupt)

Space charge – clouds of electrons surrounding the filament

Effectiveness of Focusing cup depends on the following:

1) Size
2) Shape
3) Charge

Small focal spot

 Size ranges from 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm
 Can be used within low mA stations approximately 100 mA or less
 For better spatial resolution

Large focal spot

 Size ranges from 0.4 mm to 1.2 mm
 Recommended for high mA stations from 400 mA or up
 Technical factors that produce heat is required

Anode
 Made up of COPPER, GRAPHITE, MOLYBDENUM
Purposes:
 Serves as ELECTRICAL CONDUCTOR because it receives electrons coming from the cathode
 Provide MECHANICAL SUPPORT for the target
 THERMAL CONDUCTOR – 99% converts to heat

Types of anode
1) Stationary
2) Rotating

Target anode material – TUNGSTEN alloyed with RHENIUM

 Rhenium adds strength to the target

Quality of tungsten
1) High atomic number – Z=74
 Results in high efficiency x-ray production
2) Good thermal conductivity – thermal conductivity equals to that of Copper
3) High melting point – approximately 3400C

Advantages of ROTATING ANODE

 It allows electron beam with a much larger target area
 Heating of the anode is not contained to one small spot
 Higher tube current and shorter exposure time (mAs) is possible

June 29, 2007

Operating console
 Current and voltage is being adjusted
 Current (unit) – mA
 Voltage – volts

Quantity – mR/mAs
Quality – penetrating ability – kVp/HVL

HVL – Half Value Layer

 For every 2 inches will reduce to ½

I-131 – radioactive material (RAM) that emits radiation spontaneously

mCi – unit of radioactivity

Half-life
 Characteristics of certain RAM to reduce to its ½ of original value
Ex.
If there are 100 mCi of I-131 on June 29. How much will remain on July 7?
 I-131 (half life) = 8 days
 June 29 to July 8 = 8 days
 50 mCi I-131 will remain on July 7

Line compensation
 provide precise voltage to the operating console
Autotransformer
 designed to supply precise voltage to the filament circuit and to the high voltage circuit of
the x-ray machine
 Primary voltage = voltage receive
 Secondary voltage = voltage provide

Autotransformer Law

Vs = Secondary voltage
Vp = Primary voltage
Ns = Number of windings enclosed by secondary connections
Np = Number of windings enclosed by primary connections

Problem:
If the autotransformer is supplied w/ 220V to the primary connections w/c enclosed 600
windings (AA1). What will be the secondary voltage across BB 1 (300 windings) CB1 (800
windings) and DE (650 windings)

BB1 connections CB1 connections DE connections

5 basic controls of Operating console

1) On/Off
2) mAs selection
3) kVp selection
4) Table or wall unit activation
5) Exposure switch

July 5, 2007
Exposure time – causes x-rays to emit x-rays at specific time

Number of x-rays reaching the image receptor is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL to the tube current
and the time the tube is energized

mAs – unit for tube current

Example:
A KUB examination calls for a 60 kVp and 70 mAs. If the radiographer selects 350mA station.
What exposure time should be used?

Exposure Timers
1) Mechanical timers
2) Synchronous timers
3) Electronic timers
4) mAs timers
5) Automatic exposure controls (phototimer)

Mechanical timers
 Device used in portable dental x-rays
 Operates by CLOCKWORK
 Can be used for only for exposing time greater than 250ms

Synchronous timers
 Timer used as timing mechanism with the sued of electric motor known as “synchronous
motor”
 Cannot be used for serial exposure

Electronic timers
 Most widely used exposure timers
 Most sophisticated, most accurate of all exposure timers
 Can be used for rapid serial exposure
 Accurate to interval as small as 1ms

mAs timers
 Monitors the product of tube current (mA) and exposure time (s) and terminates the
exposure when the desired mAs is attained

Automatic exposure control (Phototimer)

 Does not required adjustment by the radiographer
 Device that measure radiation quantity reaching the film

High voltage generator

 Responsible for converting low voltage from the source into a kilovoltage of proper
waveform
3 parts of high voltage generators
1) High voltage transformer
2) Filament transformer
3) Rectifiers
 All are immersed in OIL – oil serves as electrical insulator and not heat insulator
High voltage transformer
 A step-up transformer
 The secondary voltage is greater than the primary voltage because the number of
secondary winding is greater than the number of primary winding

Turns ratio
 Is the ratio of the number of secondary windings to the number of primary windings
 Voltage is proportional to the turns ratio ranges from 500:1 to 1000:1

Primary voltage – measured in Volts

Secondary voltage – measured in kilovolts

Example:
Turns ratio of a high voltage transformer is 600:1 and the supply voltage is peaked at 140 volts.
What is the secondary voltage supplied to the x-ray tube

(140)(600:1) = 84,000 volts

= 84 kilovolts

Voltage rectification
 A process of converting alternating voltage to direct voltage
2 types of Rectification
1) Half-wave
2) Full-wave

X-ray production
Kinetic energy – energy in motion
Equation:
KE = ½ mv2
Where:
m = mass in kg
v = velocity in m/s
KE = kinetic energy (Joule)

Projectile electron represents KE

 PROJECTILE ELECTRON is e- coming from cathode to anode

Characteristic radiation
 Characterized the type of element in the target (Tungsten)

X = symbol of element
Z = atomic number (represents number of protons)
A = atomic mass (represents number of protons and neutrons)
N = number of neutrons
Heat production
 99% of KE energy of projectile e- is converted into heat which leaves less than 1% available
for the production of x-rays
 the production of heat in the anode increases INDIRECTLY with the increasing current

Tungsten – uses 70keV up

Shell No. of e- (2n2) App. Binding energy (keV)

K 2 69.53
L 8 12.10
M 18 2.82
N 32 0.60
O 12 0.08

Example:
A K-shell electron is removed from a Tungsten atom and replaced by M-shell. What is the
energy of characteristic x-ray that is emitted?

69.53 – 2.82 = 66.71 keV

Bremsstrahlung
 German word means SLOWING DOWN or BRAKE
 Results from the interaction of projectile e- and the nucleus of the target atom
 Interaction is being converted to electromagnetic radiation
 In diagnostic range most of x-rays are BREMSSTRAHLUNG

Example:
K X-rays requires a tube potential of 70kVp of K-shell binding energy of Tungsten which is
69.53 while Bremsstrahlung can produced at any projectile electron energy

At 100 kVp only approximate of 15% x-ray beam results from characteristic radiation and 85%
from bremsstrahlung radiation

X-ray emission
X-ray Quantity (output intensity) unit is measured in mR or R
I = R or mR

Factors that affect x-ray quantity

1) mAs
2) kVp
3) Distance
4) Filtration

Example:
AP skull radiograph technical factors call for a 90kVp and 15 mAs w/c results in an x-ray
intensity of 40mR at the patient. If the mAs is increased by 100% what will be the x-ray
intensity?
X-ray quantity is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL with the mAs

Given:
mAs1 = 15
mAs2 = 30
I1 = 40 mR
I2 = ?

 80mR increase in x-ray intensity

Example:
X-ray examination of the anterior abdomen requires 86kVp at 52mAs. The result is a patient
exposure of 230mR. what will be the potential exposure if the mAs is reduced by 25%?

Given:
mAs1 = 52
mAs2 = 52(.25) = 39
I1 = 230mR
I2 = ?
Example:
Chest PA technical factor call for a 90kVp at 12 mAs and results in an x-ray intensity of 25mR.
What will be the intensity if the kVp is increased to 105 and mAs remains fixed?

Given:
kVp1 = 90
kVp2 = 105
I1 = 25mR
I2 = ?

15% kVp rule

 A 15% increase in kVp should be accompanied by ½ reduction in mAs

Example:
Radiographic technical factors call for a 60kVp at 20mAs and results in an intensity of 120mR.
What is the expected intensity if the kVp is increased by 15% and the mAs is reduced by 50%

Given:
mAs1 = 20
mAs2 = 20(.5) = 10
kVp1 = 60
kVp2 = 60(15%) = 69
I1 = 120 mR
I2 = ?
 July 14, 2007

Distance
Inverse square law – radiation intensity from the tube varies inversely with the square of the
distance from the target

Increase SID – result to decreased in radiation intensity

Decreased SID – result to increased in radiation intensity

Equation:

Example:
Given:
I1 = 15mR
d1 = 125cm
d2 = 112cm
I2 = ?
Filtration
 Usually made up of aluminum which is 1-3mm thick
 Positioned in the useful beam
 Filters low energy x-rays thus reducing unnecessary radiation dose to patient
 Calculation is based on HVL

HVL
 Thickness of the absorbing material necessary to reduced x-ray intensity to half of its
original value

TVL – Tenth Value Layer

Example: (solve for HVL)

K = 69.53 keV
L = 12.10 keV
Approximate binding energy = 57.40 keV
HVL @ 1mm = 28.7 keV
2mm = 14.35 keV
3mm = 7.17 keV

X-ray Quality = kVp

Penetrability – refers to attenuation of x-rays in tissue

X-rays with high penetrability such as K-characteristic and bremsstrahlung are considered HARD
X-RAYS or HIGH QUALITY X-RAYS

X-rays with low penetrability are considered SOFT X-RAYS

Factors that affect x-ray quality

1) kVp
2) Filtration

kVp – as kVp increases, x-ray beam quality increases

Filtration – as filtration increases, x-ray beam quality also increases but x-ray quantity decrease

2 types of filtration
1) Inherent
2) Added

July 20, 2007

X-ray interaction with matter

1) Classical scattering
2) Compton Effect
3) Photoelectric Effect
4) Pair production
5) Photodisintegration
Classical scattering
 Interaction between low energy x-rays with the target atom
 Result: Excitation – release excess energy referred to as scattered x-ray
 Wavelength of scattered x-ray is equal to the incident x-ray
 Direction of scattered x-ray in different from incident x-ray
 Net results: Change in direction while energy remains the same
 No energy transfer therefore no ionization
 Importance in diagnostic radiology: Little
 Only contributes to film fog (general graying of the radiograph)

Compton Effect
 Interaction between moderate energy x-rays and the outer-shell electron
 Results: production of scattered x-rays – reduce its energy and ionizes the atom
 Wavelength of scattered x-ray is greater than the incident x-ray
 Direction: up to 18 degrees deflection
 Net results: Produce uniform optical density on the radiograph which results in reduce
image contrast
 The energy of the scattered x-ray is equal to the difference between the energy of the
incident x-ray and the energy of ejected electron
Ei = Es (Eb + EKE)
Where:
Ei = energy of incident x-ray
Es = energy of scattered x-ray
Eb = electron binding energy
EKE = KE of electron

Example:
60 keV x-ray ionizes an atom of barium by ejecting an O-shell electron with 24 keV of KE. What
is the energy of scattered x-rays?
Given:
Ei = 60 keV
Eb = 0.04 keV
EKE = 24 keV

Ei = Es + (Eb + EKE)
Ei – (Eb + EKE) = Es + (Eb + EKE) – (Eb + EKE)
Es = Ei – (Eb + EKE)
= 60 keV – (0.04 keV + 24 keV)
= 60 keV – 24.04 keV
= 35.96 keV – is the energy of scattered x-ray

Photoelectric Effect
 Interaction between incident x-rays and the innershell electron
 Results: Total absorption of x-rays (Not scattered)
 Vacancy is filled-in usually by L-shell electron
 Energy is equal to the difference in the binding energy of the shells involved
 K – L shell is involved
Example:
A 60 keV x-rays interact photelectrically with (a) carbon atom and (b) barium atom. What is the
KE of each electron and thee energy of each characteristics x-ray if an L to K transition occurs?

Given: (Carbon atom)

Ei = 60 keV
Eb = 0.28 (K-shell)
0.01 (L-shell)

EKE = Ei – Eb (K-shell)
EKE = 60 – 0.28 keV
EKE = 59.72

K–L
0.28 keV – 0.01 keV
= 0.27 keV – is the energy of characteristic x-ray

(Barium atom)
Ei = 60 keV
Eb = 37.4 (K-shell)
5.99 (L-shell)

EKE = Ei – Eb (K-shell)
EKE = 60 keV – 37.2 keV
EKE = 22.6 keV

K–L
37.4 keV – 5.99 keV
= 31.41 keV is the energy of characteristic x-ray

Pair Production
 Interaction between incident x-ray and the nucleus
 Causes: sufficient energy of incident x-ray (at least 1.02MeV)
 Strong electrostatic field of nucleus
 Result: Production of two electrons – one positively charge positron and the other is
negatively charge electron
 Rarely occurs in diagnostic x-ray range

Photodisintegration
 Absorption of incident x-ray by the nucleus
 Results: nucleus is raised to an excited state
 Instantaneously emits a nucleon or other nuclear fragment
 Involves x-ray with energies greater than approximately 10MeV
 Rarely occurs in diagnostic x-ray range