X-RAY PRODUCTION,USES,HAZARDS AND

RADIATION PROTECTION

DR CHAITANYA TAPASVI
DEPT. OF RADIOLOGY
 Introduction

Plain radiographs were the first and are still the most widely
used radiologic study.
For the number of years, before the discovery of
x-rays, physicists had been observing high
voltage discharge in vaccum tube.

In 1895 Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen, a German

physicist,was studying these phenomenon on a
Crookes tube operated at high voltage in a
darkened room.

Suddenly,he noticed the fluorescence of a

barium platinocyanide screen lying several feet
above the end of tube.
He soon realized that the fluorescence was caused
by a unknown type of invisible radiation

He found that this radiation could pass

completely through solid material

Roentgen gave the name x-rays to this newly

found invisible radiation bcoz the letter x
represent the unknown in the mathematics.
X-rays belong to a group of radiations called
electromagnetic radiation.
Electromagnetic radiation is the transport of
energy through space as a combination of electric
and magnetic fields
Other member of EM radiation include radio
wave,radiant heat,visible light & gamma radiation
EM radiation need no medium for traveling, they
can travel through vacuum
Frequency of EM radiation differ only in there
wavelength ,frequency is inversely proportional
to wavelength
F=1/W
X-rays passing through the body capture the image of the area
on x-ray film.

X-rays are a form of electromagnetic energy that is similar in

many ways to visible light.

Because x-rays have a shorter wavelength than light, they are

able to penetrate substances that are opaque to light.
X-rays are produced by an x-ray tube, which emits a beam of x-
rays directed toward the patient.

The x-rays pass through the patient in proportion to the

various tissue densities that are encountered. For example, x-
rays pass through air rather easily, while bone blocks most x-
rays.
The x-rays develop film, which is housed in a cassette behind
the patient. The film has a double-sided silver emulsion and is
sandwiched between 2 fluorescent intensifying screens.

The fluorescent screens emit light, thus augmenting the

exposure of the film. This allows for a decreased radiation
dose.

The silver emulsion oxidizes and turns black when exposed.

Unexposed portions remain white. This is why air appears
black and bone appears white.
Diagnostic X-Ray Tube
X-rays are produced by energy conversion when a fast
moving stream of electron is suddenly decelerated in
target anode of an x-ray tube
Previously gas filled tube was used
When high potential difference is applied to cathode,
electrons are produced by heated tungsten filament
These electrons collide with the gas molecules and
lose energy
Which causes secondary electrons to be ejected from
gas molecules, and this process is known as Ionization
process
These secondary electrons heat tungsten target and this was how
x-rays were produced in earlier gas filled tubes.
Disadvantage of gas filled X-ray tube
Intensity of x-rays can not be controlled
 After ionization when secondary electrons are
produced could not be satisfactorily controlled
Results in variation in the number, speed & direction
of electrons bombarding on target anode
 Modern X-Ray tube
This is the vaccum tube
It largely replaced old gas filled tube

Advantage

The number, speed & direction of the electron

beam will be controlled.
So intensity of x-ray beam can be controlled
 STRUCTURE OF VACCUM TUBE
CATHODE (-ve terminal)
It is made up of filament which is tungsten wire about
0.2mm in diameter that is coiled to form vertical spiral
about 1cm or less in length
Why tungsten is use at cathode?
Because tungsten has high melting point (3370dgc) ,it
tolerates larger amount of heat
It is malleable so it can be drawn into a thin wire that is
quite strong and has little tendency to vaporize and thus
filament has a long life expectancy
When current flows through this filament it is heated.
And some electrons in the metal acquired enough
energy to allow them to move small distance from the
surface of a metal (normally,e- can move within a
metal,but cannot escape from it)
Their escape is referred to as the process of thermionic
emission,which may be defined as the emission of
electrons from filament,due to absorption of thermal
energy
A tungsten filament must be heated to a temp. of at least
2200 dgc to emit useful no. of electrons
After emitting from the metal these electrons surround the
filament and form an electron cloud.
This e- cloud surrounding the filament, forms space charge.
This cloud of –ve charges tend to prevent other electrons
from being emitted from the filament until they acquire
sufficient energy to overcome the force caused by the space
charge
The tendency of space charge to limit further
emission of electrons from cathode filament is
known as space charge effect

When electrons leave filament loss of –ve charge

cause filament to achieve +ve charge
By applying a high potential difference across the anode
and cathode, the electrons from the space charge are
attracted towards the anode and thus cause
bombardment over it.

This large no. of electrons would spread out over an

unacceptably large area on anode and this damages
anode.
Hence to prevent this , we make use of a device known
as focusing cup which surrounds filament, and thus
directs the electron beam.
Focusing cup is made up of nickel

Focusing cup is designed so that its electrical forces cause

the e- stream to converge onto the target anode in the
required size and shape
 ANODE
It has positive charge. It is two types- Stationary and
Rotating.

STATIONARY ANODE
It consists of small plates of tungsten, 2 to 3 mm thick, that is
embedded in a large mass of copper. Tungsten plate is square
or rectangular in shape with each dimension usually being >1
cm.
 WHY TUNGSTEN?
(1) It has high atomic number (74), which makes it
more efficient for production of x-rays. It is more likely
to undergo photoelectric reaction when bombarded by
electrons
(2) It has high melting point, able to withstand
high temperature. Melting point 3370 d.c.
(3) Tungsten is a good material for absorption of heat & for
rapid dissipation of the heat away from the target area.
 WHY COPPER?

Copper is a better conductor of heat than tungsten. It

facilitates dissipation of heat, increase total thermal
capacity & increase rate of cooling.

Actual size of tungsten target is considerably larger than

the area bombarded by the electron stream.
A single x-ray exposure may raise the temperature of the
bombarded area of the tungsten target by 1000 dgC
This high temp. is reached by any metal in the immediate
vicinity of focal spot
If the tungsten target were not sufficiently large to allow for
some cooling around the edges of the focal spot, the heat
produced would melt the copper in the immediate vicinity of
the target.
 ROTATING ANODE

Heat generated at the anode limits the the ability of the

x-ray tube to achieve high x-ray output.
To prevent excessive heating of the anode, and to
improve its capacity of x-ray production, rotating tubes
came into force.
The rotating anode principle is used to produce x-ray
tube capable of withstanding the heat generated by larger
exposure.
The rotating anode consists of large disc of tungsten
or an alloy of tungsten which theoretically rotates @
speed of about 3600rpm,when exposure is being
made.

The purpose of rotating anode is to spread the heat

produced during an exposure over a large area of
anode.

But in practice, the anode never reach a speed of

3600rpm, because of mechanical factor such as
slipping btw the rotator and bearings.
At a speed of 3600 rpm,any given area on tungsten
disc is found opposite e- stream only once every 1/60
sec.and remainder of the time heat generated during
exposure can be easily dissipated, hence countering
the effects of excessive heating.
 HOW TO ROTATE THE ANODE

Rotation provided by magnetic field produced by

stator coil that surrounded the neck of x-ray tube
outside glass envelop of tube

This magnetic field induces current in the copper

rotor of the induction motor and this induced current
provides the power to rotate anode.
For smooth rotation, lubricants are use in the bearings
of rotating anode.

Hence lubricant used here is metallic lubricant

especially silver.
The stem which connect the tungsten target to the
remainder of the anode assembly is made up of
molybdenum. Molybdenum has a high melting point &
is a poor conductor of heat.
Thus the molybdenum stem provides a partial heat
barrier between the tungsten disc and bearings of the
anode.
Alloy of 90% Tungsten & 10% rhenium produce an
anode that is more resistant to roughening & has a
higher thermal capacity than the anode of the tungsten.
In any anode, the target tungsten disc has a bevelled edge.
The angle of bevel may vary from 6 to 20 degrees.
 LINE FOCUS PRINCIPLE

The focus spot is an area of tungsten anode (target) that

is bombarded by e- from the cathode.

Most of the energy of the e- is converted into heat

with <1% being converted into x-rays.

Heat is uniformly distributed over the focal spot. A large

focal spot allow the distribution of heat in large area,but
x-ray beam that emit from large focal spot is scattered,so
we have to decrease the size of apparent focal spot
without decreasing the size of surface of target area.
 This is achieved by line focus principle.

Surface of the target is inclined so that it forms an

angle of 6 to 20 deg with the plane perpendicular to
the incident beam.
Because of this angulation when the slanted surface
of the focal spot is viewed from the direction in
which x-ray emerge from the x-ray tube, the surface
is foreshortened & appear small.
Therefore size of the effective or apparent focal spot
is considerably smaller than actual focal spot.
Focal spot is directly related to the angle of the
anode.As the angle of the anode made smaller the
apparent focal spot also become smaller.
Focal spot having size of 0.3, 0.6, 1.0 & 1.2mm are
commonly used.
 TUBE HOUSING
X-ray tube is covered with lead & serve to absorb
primary & secondary x-rays that would otherwise
produce a high intensity of radiation around the tube,
resulting in needless exposure of patient & doctor.
Another function of the tube housing is to provide
shielding for the high voltage required to produce x-
rays.
The high voltage cables which are connected to the
tube through appropriate receptacles in the tube
housing, contain a grounding sheet of wires to provide
proper grounding of the tube to the earth.
To prevent short circuiting btw the grounding wires & the tube,
the space btw them is filled with extremely thick mineral oil.

Thus x-ray tube is envelops in glass which is surrounded by

thick mineral oil,surrounded by metal (lead)
The housing is then carefully shield to exclude all air, because
the air would expand excessively when heated & rupture the
housing.

The oil has a good electrical insulating & thermal cooling

property.
 PROCESS OF X-RAY GENERATION

X-rays are produced by energy conversion when fast moving

e- from the filament of the x-ray tube interact with tungsten
anode.
It includes for step
(1) separation of e-from the filament,when applying
current(mA)
(2) speeding of e- ,when applying high potential difference
b/w cathode and anode
(3) focusing of e- with the focusing cup
(4) rapid deceleration of e- to the target anode
Electron has –ve binding energy,to free the electron we
have to give energy greater than binding energy of
electron .
In tungsten K shell e- has 70 keV and L shell has 11 keV
and M shell has 2 keV
X-rays are generated by two different
processes

1) General radiation or Bremsstrahlung.

2) Characteristic radiation.
 GENERAL RADIATION (BREMSSTRAHLUNG)
When an e- passes near the nucleus, it is attracted by
+ve charge nucleus & thus the e- is deflected from
original direction.
Electron may loose energy & slow down when it changes
direction.
The kinetic energy lost by e- is emitted directly in the
form of a photon of radiation.The radiation produced by
this process is called general radiation.
X-ray produced by general radiation produce
continuous spectrum of x-rays

Wavelength of x-rays in continuous spectrum

varies. The variation is produced by different
energies with which the e- reach the target.
 CHARACTERISTIC RADIATION
Characteristic radiation results when the e- bombarding
the target and eject e- from the inner orbits of the target
atoms.
 Removal of these e- from atom cause atom to acquired
+ve ion.Now atom become unstable.
To stabilize atom e-from the outer orbit is transffered in
the inner orbit to fill vacancy in the inner orbit(from L shell
to K shell)
In tungsten binding energy of Kshell –70
keV and L shell is -11 keV
Thus energy given up as L shell e- transferred to the K shell
Difference b\w binding energy K shell and L shell
is 59 keV
This energy is a x-ray photon and energy of this
photon is 59 keV
For tungsten atom,energy of this x-ray photon will
always remain the same,regardless of the energy of
the e- that ejected the K shell e-
X-ray produced in this manner is called
characteristic radiation because the wavelength of
the x-ray produced are characteristic of the atom
The binding energy of e- in K shell is 70 keV. So e-
that is coming from cathode must have energy of
>70 keV to eject the k shell e- from its orbit

When L shell e- move to the K shell ,vacancy may

be filled from M shell and another x-ray photon
produced. This is L characteristic radiation

Energy of this x-ray photon is much less than K

characteristic radiation because difference b\w
binding energy of L shell and M shell is much less
than that of K shell and L shell
 Uses of x-rays

PLAIN FILMS- Chest,abdomen, musculoskeletal radiology

Bone mineral densitometry(BMD)
Mammography
PLAIN FILMS WITH CONTRAST-IVU,VCUG,RGU
GI FLUOROSCOPY-Barium swallow,Small bowel follow through,
Barium enema ,Enteroclysis
ERCP
COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
ANGIOGRAPHY.
 Radiation Hazards
Biological Basis-DNA damage by free radicals produced by ionizing
radiation
Cellular radiation effects-genetic and somatic
Deterministic effects-occur at high doses i.e doses above 0.5Gy
are mainly a result of cell death
Threshold dose below which the effect
doesn’t occur
skin reddening,cataract induction,sterility
Stochastic effects-occur at low doses i.e below 0.5Gy
carcinogenesis,genetic effects of prime
importance
random or probabilistic
independent of dose
dependent on the gender and age at exposure
 RADIATION PROTECTION
Exposure to ionizing radiation - both a
benefit and a risk.
Diagnostic benefit of a radiological procedure far
outweighs the risk resulting from the associated x-ray
exposure
It should be ensured that each patient receives only the
minimal dose
UNITS FOR QUANTIFYING IONIZING RADIATION
Exposure:
Quantity of x-rays required to produce a given amount of
ionization (charge) in a unit mass of air
Unit:- roentgen (R) = 2.58x 10-4 coulomb (C) per kilogram (kg)

Absorbed Dose:The gray (symbol: Gy) is the SI unit of

absorbed radiation dose of ionizing radiation and is defined
as the absorption of one joule of ionizing radiation by one
kilogram of matter(usually human tissue).
 DOSE EQUIVALENT

 Product of the average absorbed dose in a tissue due to

radiation and a radiation weighting factor(equivalent to 1 for
x-rays)
Units:-
 rem (radiation equivalent man)
 sievert (Sv) (joule per kilogram)
1 Sv =100 rem
Naturally-occurring "background" radiation exposure

We are exposed to radiation from natural sources all the time. The
average person in the U.S. receives an effective dose of about 3 mSv
per year from naturally occurring radioactive materials and cosmic
radiation from outer space. These natural "background" doses vary
throughout the country.

To explain it in simple terms, we can compare the radiation exposure

from one chest x-ray as equivalent to the amount of radiation
exposure one experiences from our natural surroundings in 10 days.
RADIATION SAFETY PHILOSOPHY
Provide regulatory oversight
Educate
Minimize exposure
Promote the safe and effective use of radiation
sources
Keep the risks to radiation workers to levels that
are comparable with those of other safe
occupations
As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA)
RADIOGRAPHIC PROTECTION FEATURES
Protective X-Ray Tube Housing:
Source-to-Image Receptor Distance Indicator
INVERSE-SQUARE LAW
Radiation intensity decreases proportionately
as the square of the distance from a point
source
PROTECTIVE CURTAIN:
JUSTIFICATION OF A PRACTICE

No practice involving exposures to radiation should be

adopted unless it provides sufficient benefit to offset
the detrimental effects of radiation
SHIELDING OF THE X-RAY CONTROL ROOM:
PERSONNEL SHIELDING:
Should remain in the radiation environment only
when necessary

Distance between the personnel and the patient

should be maximized

Shielding apparel -Lead aprons

 LEAD APRONS :

Transmission through 0.5 mm Pb

3.2% at 100 kVp
0.36% at 70 kVp
LEAD APRONS
OTHER PROTECTIVE APPAREL
Eye glasses with side shields
THYROID SHIELDS
HAND GLOVES
PERSONNEL DOSIMETRY

Pocket Dosimeter

Film Badge Monitoring

Thermo luminescent dosimetry (TLD)

Monitoring
Thermo luminescent dosimetry (TLD) Monitoring

Emit light when stimulated by heat

Lithium fluoride , lithium borate, calcium

fluoride and calcium sulfate

As low as 1.3µC/kg

TLD MONITORS
RECOMMENDED DOSE LIMITS FOR GENERAL PUBLIC

AERB-1 mSv/year over 5 years

NCRP-5 mSv over 5 year period
ICRP- 1mSv/year over 5 years
Recommendations Following Exposure in
pregnancy
The risk [of abnormality] is considered to be
negligible at 10 rad (0.1 Gy) or less when compared to
other risks of pregnancy
First 10 days following conception-IUD
20-40 days following conception-most vulnerable for
radiation induced congenital anomalies
After 150 days-increased risk of childhood
malignancy
Therefore exposure of the fetus to radiation arising
from diagnostic procedures would very rarely be the
cause for terminating a pregnancy
Summary & Conclusions
 Radiation protection is an integral
component

BE CAREFUL, NOT FEARFUL