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Khan CH 7 Lecture

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15 views7 pages

Khan CH 7 Lecture

Uploaded by

Jenna Lombardo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 7

Quality of Xray Beams

Introduction
Quality of X-ray Beams
Penetrating ability of the radiation is described as the quality of the
radiation
Simple specification of the beam quality is termed half-value layer

7.1 HVL
The thickness of an absorber of specified composition required to attenuate
the intensity of the beam to half its original value
HVL used to quantify low energy beams (kVp range)
In megavoltage range, the transmission target and flattening filter provide
most of the filtration effect. These beams are called "hardened" beams and
have an average photon energy of approximately ⅓ of the peak energy

Intensity – describes the relative number of photons passing through a


measurement volume
Transmission – is the relative number of photons left after passing through
an absorber
:
Relationship between Penetration and Object Thickness Expressed in HVLs

7.2 Filters
Inherent filtration – filtering effect of x-ray tube.
(housing, cooling oil, exit window) Typically equivalent to 1mm Al
:
Schematic graph showing changes in spectral distribution of 200-kVp x-ray beam with various filters.

Curve A is for Al, curve B is for Sn + Al, and curve C is for Sn + Cu + Al.

Characteristic x-rays
•K edge of tungsten can be preferentially absorbed by adding a tin filter
•K edge of tin is ~ 29.2 KeV, so it strongly absorbs photons above this
energy (photoelectric)
•Those characteristic photons produced in tin can be filtered with copper
(K edge = 9 KeV). (The very low energy photons produced in copper
can be filtered with Aluminum)

Note: filters are layered with highest Z closest to target


:
7.2 Filters
Combination filters containing plates of tin, copper, and aluminum have
been designed to increase the resulting HVL of the orthovoltage beams
without reducing the beam intensity to unacceptably low values
= Thoraeus filters

Thoraeus I .2mm Sn + .25mm Cu + 1mm Al


Thoraeus II .4mm Sn + .25mm Cu + 1mm Al
Thoraeus III .6mm Sn + .25mm Cu + 1mm Al

Superficial (diagnostic) energy range (<150kVp) – filtration usually mm Al

Orthovoltage energy range – combination filters used to obtain HVL in the


range of 1-4 mm Cu

7.3 Measurement of beam quality parameters


A. HVL
HVL is related to the linear attenuation coefficient (µ)

µ - slope of attenuation curve


B. Peak Voltage
Direct Measurement
:
Voltage divider – divide voltage with a series of resistors

sphere-gap method – use polished metal spheres; distance at


which a spark is generated is proportional to
Indirect Measurement
Fluorescence method – two detectors. One in line with beam and
one at 45º behind a filter.
#1 measures transmitted x-rays
#2 measures scattered and characteristic x-rays
Next, vary tube voltage slowly up from 0 volts. As each edge is
reached, transmitted x-rays decrease and characteristic x-rays
increase.
So, ratio of #1 and #2 sharply decreases. Since the edge energies
are known, then we can calibrate the kVp settings.
C.Effective Energy

Effective energy of an x-ray beam is the energy of photons in a


monoenergetic beam which is attenuated at the same rate as the
radiation in question
Effective energy of a heterogeneous beam varies with the absorber
thickness
Effective energy also defined as the energy of a monoenergetic photon
beam having the same HVL as the given beam

D. Mean energy
Spectral distribution of a radiation field is characterized by the
distribution of fluence or energy fluence with respect to energy
:
7.4 Measurement of megavoltage beam energy
Practical methods:
1. Measure energy spectrum with scintillation systems (scintillation
spectrometer)
2. Foil Activation – different photoactivation reactions in thin foils can be
used to measure x-ray spectra
3. Can measure relative depth dose distributions to estimate mean
energy (to about ± 1 MeV)

Key Points for Chapter 7:


Quality of x-ray beams is specified by kVp, filtration, and HVL (for diagnostic,
superficial, and orthovoltage beams); and MV and percent depth dose in water
(for megavoltage x-rays).
Quality of cobalt-60 beams is designated as cobalt-60 because it is known that
they all have the same energy, namely γ rays of 1.17 and 1.33 MeV.
HVL must be measured under "good geometry" conditions: a narrow beam and
a large distance between absorber and detector in order to avoid
measurement of scattered radiation.
Peak voltage (kVp) applied to an x-ray generator can be measured directly
(e.g., voltage divider, sphere-gap method) or indirectly (e.g., fluorescence,
attenuation, or a penetrameter device such as an Adrian-Crooks cassette).
Peak energy (MV) of a megavoltage x-ray beam can be measured directly by
scintillation spectrometry or by photoactivation of appropriate foils (e.g., PAR
method). Most commonly used methods, however, are indirect, such as
comparing measured percent depth dose distribution in water with published
data.
:
Effective or equivalent energy of an x-ray beam is the energy of a
monoenergetic photon beam that has the same HVL as the given beam.
Energy spectrum of an x-ray beam can be measured by scintillation
spectrometry. The spectrum may be displayed in terms of photon fluence per
unit energy interval as a function of photon energy.
:

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