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Content of previous class

Lecture 2: • Introduction of Subject
X-ray Imaging • Rationales
• Computer Aided Diagnosis

Biomedical Image/Signal Processing

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The beginnings of Radiology

November 1895 - Roentgen discovered X-rays
• When experimenting with CRT in
dark room, he noticed a faint
fluorescent glow emanating from
a plate.
Medical Imaging Techniques • He was amazed to see the image
of the bones from his hand cast
onto the plates

X-ray • The prospects for x-ray diagnosis

were immediately recognized.
• Roentgen refused to patent his
discovery and won Nobel Prize in
Physics for his discovery - 1901

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Characterization of X-ray
• X-ray imaging is the most widespread and well-known
medical imaging technique.
• A kind of penetrating radiation coming from an evacuated
glass bulb with positive and negative electrodes.
• The X-rays are generated in a special vacuum tube.
• X-rays are electromagnetic radiation (photons) with
wavelengths, 10 pm < λ < 10 nm.
• They travel with the speed of light, and has a frequency of
f = c0/ λ[Hz]
• The energy of the individual photon is E=hf [J], where
h=6.62×10-34 Js is Planck’s constant.

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Cont… Cont…
• In the short-wavelength
• The energy of an X-ray is part of the electro-
typically measured in electron Energy
magnetic spectrum the
volts (eV). distinction between X-
Electron
rays and γ-rays is made
• 1eV is the energy increase that by the origin of the
an electron experiences, when waves:
accelerated over a potential Energy ▫ X-rays are emitted (by
difference of 1 V.
definition) by
• Thus, 1eV=e∆V = 1.602×10-19 J, electrons outside the
where the charge of an nucleus
electron is e (both e and ∆V is ▫ while gamma rays are
negative in this context). emitted by the
nucleus.

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Cont… Cont…
• X-ray imaging utilizes the ability of high frequency
electromagnetic waves to pass through soft parts of the human • A number of the phenomena, which are observed with X-
rays are most conveniently described by the wave
body largely without hindrance.
properties of the radiation.
• X-rays can travel through soft tissues in body with little
attenuation and are only “stopped” by high density tissues • Other phenomena can be more easily understood if the
such as bone. X-rays are considered as being composed of particles
(photons) with well defined energies and momentum.
• Radiograph:
▫ Fully exposed areas of film/detector appear black. • The rest mass of a photon is zero. This means that
▫ Dense objects block more X-rays and so appear white. photons can never be found at rest. All photons move at
the same velocity, c, in a vacuum, given by c = 2.998x108
▫ Soft tissues like fat and muscle result in intermediate
m/s.
exposure and so appear grey.

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X-ray Generation • In X-ray tube with cathode and anode, electrons accelerated
from cathode towards anode.
• X-rays are usually generated • The tube generates X-rays in all directions, but due to the
in vacuum tubes by encapsulation most are lost and only a fraction is used for
bombarding a metal target imaging.
with high-speed electrons.
• Images produced by passing
the resulting radiation
through the patient’s body
on to a photographic plate or
digital recorder.
• The necessary attributes for
X-ray imaging are: X-ray
source, object (patient) and a
radiation detector (image
receptor).

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• A typical X-ray tube is depicted, consists of an evacuated glass

bulb with a heated filaments as the negative electrode and a • The electrons will be slowed down in the anode material,
heavy metal positive anode. mainly releasing their energy as heat.
• Thermal electrons emitted by the heated filament are • A small percent of energy is transformed to either
accelerated across the gap toward the anode. Bremsstrahlung or characteristic X-rays.
• If the voltage between cathode and anode is U volts and the • The X-rays originates from the sudden de-acceleration
current in the tube being I amperes, each electron will be hitting and direction changes of the primary electrons in the
the anode with: field of the anode atoms.
KE = Kinetic Energy • The characteristics X-rays originates from the knockout
KE = U eV and subsequent level filling of inner electrons in the
PD = Power deposited on anode atoms of the anode material.
PD = IU • The highest possible quantum energy of emanating X-
rays (measured in eV) will be equal to U.
ET = Total energy transferred to anode in an exposure of t sec
ET = IUt

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• Typical energy spectra as a function of voltages are shown figure.

• Please note that the spectra are all taken at the same current, only
Anode Material
the voltage has been varied. • Heavy elements are normally preferred for anode
• This demonstrates that the total number of X-ray photons are highly materials as the high Z-number gives efficient production
dependent on tube voltage. of the part of the X-ray.
• The characteristic X-ray lines, normally appear in the
range 50-70 keV, which is often in the middle of the
medical useful energy range.
• The thermal load on the anode material both during the
short exposures and averaged over time when performing
rapid, multiple exposures heats the anode dramatically.
• Normally a high melting point material is used.
• Anodes made up of Tungsten, abbreviated W, are very
common.

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Figure: X-ray spectrum of a tungsten tube. The peaks correspond to the

characteristic radiation; the continuous part of the spectrum represents the
Bremsstrahlung.

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• The production of X-rays is caused by two different • Therefore, the characteristic radiation produces a line
processes. spectrum, or discrete spectrum.
• First, if the electron interacts with an inner-shell • This kind of radiation is material dependent.
electron of the target, characteristic X-radiation can be • Both the production of characteristic X-rays as well as
produced. thermal energy, involve interactions between the
• This kind of X-rays results from a sufficiently strong accelerated electrons and the electrons of the target
interaction that ionizes the target atom by a total material.
removal of the inner-shell electron. • Another type of interaction in which the electron can
• The resulting “hole” in the inner-shell is filled with an lose its kinetic energy delivers the second process of X-
outer-shell electron. ray production.
• The transition of an orbital electron from an outer-shell • It is caused by the interaction of the electron with the
to an inner-shell is accompanied by the emission of an nucleus of a target atom.
X-ray photon, with an energy equal to the difference in
the binding energies of the orbital electrons involved.

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• As the colliding electron passes by the nucleus of an • In medical imaging, very low energies of an X-ray
anode atom, it is slowed down and deviated in its spectrum are typically removed prior to an interaction
course, leaving with reduced kinetic energy in a
different direction. with the patient by using a thin metal plate which is
placed between the patient and the X-ray source.
• This loss in kinetic energy reappears as an X-ray
photon. This type of X-rays is called Bremsstrahlung. • The reason for this is that almost all of the low energy
photons would be absorbed by the patient, thus,
• The amount of kinetic energy that is lost in this way
can vary from zero to the total incident energy. leading to an increased patient dose without a
substantial improvement of image quality.
• While the characteristic radiation results in a discrete
X-ray spectrum of characteristic peaks, the • The metallic plate is also called X-ray filter, which is
Bremsstrahlung provides a continuous spectrum. not to be confused with the mathematical filters used
• The number of X-rays emitted decreases rapidly at for image processing.
very low photon energies.

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• The X-ray is generated by the X-ray tube

• In medical imaging, very low energies of an X-ray
spectrumare typically removed prior to an interaction
with the patient by using athin metal plate which is
placed between the patient and the X-ray source.
• The reason for this is that almost all of the low energy
photons would be absorbed by the patient, thus, leading
to an increased patient dose without a substantial
improvement of image quality.
• The metallic plate is also called X-ray filter, which is not
to be confused with the mathematical filters used for
image processing.

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Schematic illustration of a typical X-ray system

• Low energy photons are removed by the Al filter, since as
they cannot penetrate the object and contribution to the
information on the film.
• They would only add needless to the dose received by the
object.
• X-ray radiation outside the image region on the film is
removed by the collimator.
• Attenuation (what is measured on the film) and
Compton scattering take place at the object.
• Only photons moving directly from the source to the film
are allowed through the grid at the bottom.

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• Distance from the X-ray origin (the focus) to the

objects as FOD.
• Distance from the focus to the film can be defined as
FFD.
• Any object will to some degree attenuate the X-ray,
and variation in X-ray absorption across the objects
will create a corresponding variation in the radiation
impinging on the film.
• An unavoidable and sometimes desirable geometrical
magnification of the image relative to the object can be
deduced from the triangle in following figure.

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• The enlargement factor F, can be defined as

F = size of film image / size of object

F = FFD / FOD
• A small object to film distance also improves image contrast,
as blurring by scattering increases with increasing distance
between object and film.
• This is because the origin of the scatter is mainly inside the
Thank You
object.
• Longer the scattered radiation is allowed to travel between the
object and the film, the more this radiation diverges from the
true un-scattered photons.
• The extended size of the focus will generate blurring on the
film.

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