X-ray Imaging System

*PRIMARY FUNCTION
*The system is designed to provide a large number of
electrons at cathode with high kinetic energy
focused to a small target at anode.

*PRINCIPAL PARTS
*Operating Console
*High-voltage generator
*X-ray tube
 *How “X-rays” are produced?
*X-rays are produced from the x-ray tube
*Two electrodes:
*Cathode- heated to emit electrons
*Anode- piece of metal containing target
*High voltage applied across the two electrodes
*Electrons stream towards the target
*X-rays are produced
*X-ray Tube Construction
A

Radiographic Equipment
D F
C G
E
*Glass envelope
*Cathode
*Anode
*Protective housing
EXTERNAL COMPONENTS

1.Support System
2.Protective Housing
3.Glass or Metal Enclosure
PIX
 CEILING SUPPORT SYSTEM
the most frequently used.
It consists of two perpendicular sets of ceiling-mounted rails.
This allows for both longitudinal and transverse travel of the x-ray
tube.
A telescoping column attaches the x-ray tube housing
to the rails, allowing for variable source-to-image receptor distance
(SID).
Some ceiling-supported x-ray tubes have a single control that
removes all locks, allowing the tube to “float.”
CEILING SUPPORT SYSTEM
The floor-to-ceiling support system has a single
column with rollers at each end, one attached to a
ceiling mounted rail and the other attached to a
floor-mounted
rail.

The x-ray tube slides up and down the column

as the column rotates.
Interventional radiology suites often are equipped with C-arm
support systems. These systems are ceiling mounted and provide
for very flexible x-ray tube positioning.
 The image receptor is attached to the other end of the C-arm
from the x-ray tube.
 Variations called L-arm or U-arm support are also common.
HYBRID OR ANIMATION

HEART CATHETERAZATION LABORATORY

When x-rays are produced, they are emitted isotropically
We use only x-rays emitted through the special section of
the x-ray tube called the window.
The x-rays emitted through the window are called the
useful beam.
X-rays that escape through the protective housing are
called leakage radiation.
Properly designed protective housing reduces the level of
leakage radiation to less than 1 mGya/hr at 1 m when
operated at maximum conditions.
The protective housing incorporates specially
designed high-voltage receptacles to protect against accidental
electric shock.
 Death by electrocution was a very real hazard for early radiologic
technologists.
The protective housing also provides mechanical support for the
x-ray tube and protects the tube from damage caused by rough
handling.
The protective housing around some x-ray tubes (bellows) contains
oil that serves as both an insulator against electric shock and as a
thermal cushion to dissipate heat.
It contains cooling fan to air cool the tube
or the oil in which the x-ray tube is
immersed.
If the expansion is too great, a microswitch
is activated so the tube cannot be used until
it cools.
*The protective housing should never be held
during an x-ray examination.
*In addition, patient’s limbs should not rest
on the tube or housing during an x-ray
examination.
*The high voltage cables and terminals should
never be used as handles for positioning the
tube.
30 to 50 cm long and 20 cm in diameter.
The glass enclosure is made of Pyrex glass to enable it
to withstand the tremendous heat generated.
The enclosure maintains a vacuum inside the tube. This
vacuum allows for more efficient x-ray production and a
longer tube life
Metal enclosure tubes maintain a constant electric
potential between the electrons of the tube current and
the enclosure. Therefore, they have a longer life and are
less likely to fail.
30 to 50 cm long and 20 cm in diameter.
The glass enclosure is made of Pyrex glass to enable it
to withstand the tremendous heat generated.
The enclosure maintains a vacuum inside the tube.
This vacuum allows for more efficient x-ray production
and a longer tube life
Its disadvantage is when the tungsten will
vaporizes and coats the inside portion of
the enclosure and alters the electrical
properties of the tube allowing tube current
to stray which results to arcing and tube
failure.
Metal enclosure tubes maintain a constant
electric potential between the electrons of
the tube current and the enclosure.

They have a longer life and are less likely

to fail.

 All high-capacity x-ray tubes used Metal

enclosures
INTERNAL COMPONENTS

1. CATHODE
2. ANODE
• Negatively charged electrode.

• Two primary parts:

– Filament
– Focusing cup
Cathode
• Metallic shroud/Cathode block containing
the two filaments.
– Usually made from nickel.
• Contains a negative charge.
– Designed to repel electrons.
– Designed to condense electron beam to small
area on on focal track.
• The voltage applied to the cathode block is
the same voltage applied to the filament,
which is 10 V
• A biased x-ray tube uses a focusing cup
with a more negative voltage (about 100 V
less ) than the filament.
• This creates a tighter electric field around
the filament, which reduces spread of the
beam and results in a smaller focal spot
width
 Focusing cup
• Four factors
determine the
effectiveness of the
cup.
– Size & shape.
– Charge
– Filament size &
shape.
– Position of filament
w/in cup.
• Small coil of thoriated tungsten
(1-2 %)-
• 2mm in diameter
• 1 or 2 cm long
• Modern x-ray tubes contain two
filament.
– They correspond to the focal
spot sizes.
•.
Filament
• When machine is turned on, small amount of
current flows through to heat filament.

• Tube current is adjusted by controlling the

filament current.
• Determines filament temperature  rate of
thermionic emission

• As the electrical resistance to the filament

current heats the filament, electrons are
emitted from its surface.
• When no voltage is applied between the
anode and the cathode of the x-ray tube, an
electron cloud, also called a space charge
cloud, builds around the filament.

• Applying a positive high voltage to the

anode with respect to the cathode
accelerates the electrons toward the anode
and produces a tube current.
• Subsequent electrons from the filament
are difficult to be emitted because of
electrostatic repulsion
– Space charge effect
• Thermionic emission at low kVp and
high mA can be
– Space charge limited/emission limited
operation
– (below 40 kV)

– Tube current is 5 to 10 times less than

the filament current
• Beyond a certain kVp, saturation occurs
whereby all of the emitted electrons are
accelerated toward the anode and a
further increase in kVp does not
significantly increase the tube current.
• Positively charged electrode.

• Two types

– Stationary anode
– Rotating anode
• 1. conducts electricity/receives
electron

• 2. Radiates heat

• 3. Contains the target/mechanical

support
• Made of tungsten
target embedded in a
large copper bar.

• Usually used in dental

x-ray machine.
 Rotating anode
• Constructed of tungsten
target (focal track).
– High melting point 34100
Celsius.
• Molybdenum (2600 degree
Celsius)
– Surrounds tungsten target area.
– dissipating heat.
• Graphite
– Serves as mount for
molybdenum and tungsten
target.
– Also assists in dissipating heat.
Rotating anode
Rotating anode

• Both
molybdenum and
graphite have
lower mass
density than
tungsten,
making the
anode lighter
and easier to
rotate.
 Rotating anode

• Provides greater target area

and greater heat dissipation
(500 times more)

• Affords the ability to attain

greater exposure loads by
providing a larger area for
the electron beam to
interact with the target.
 Rotating anode
• The heating capacity is
further enhanced with
an increased RPM
(3400-10,000).
 Induction motor
Responsible for driving the rotating anode.
.
 Induction motor
• Works on the principle similar to the
transformer.
– Electromagnetic induction.
– Current flowing in the stator develops a
magnetic field.
– Stator windings are sequentially energized so
that the induced magnetic field rotates on the
axis of the stator.
– This causes the rotor to rotate.
 Induction motor
• ROTOR  consist of copper bars
arranged around a cylinder iron core.
• STATOR  series of electromagnets
surrounding the rotor outside the x-ray
tube envelope
• ROTOR + STATOR = induction motor.
Induction motor
Induction motor
 Induction motor
• Rotor  copper bars arranged around a
cylinder iron core.

• A series of electromagnets surrounding the

rotor outside the x-ray tube envelope makes
up the Stator, and the combination is known
as an induction motor.
Induction motor

• Rotating speeds (RPM)

• 3,000 to 3,600 (low speed)
– Single-phase generator

• 9,000 to 10,000 (high speed)

– Three-phase generator
 Induction motor
• X-ray machine are designed so that the x-ray
tube will not be energized if the anode is not up
to full speed; this is the cause for short delay (1
to 2 seconds) when the x-ray tube exposure
button is pushed.

• Rotor bearings are heat sensitive and are often

the cause of the x-ray tube failure.
 Induction motor
• Bearings are in the high-vacuum
environment of the insert and require
special heat-insensitive, nonvolatile
lubricants.
Induction motor
 Induction motor
• Molybdenum stem attaches the anode to the
rotor/bearing assembly, because molybdenum is a
very poor heat conductor and reduces heat
transfer from the anode to the bearings.

• Because it is thermally isolated, the anode must

be cooled by radiative emission.
 Induction motor
• Heat energy is emitted from the hot anode
as infrared radiation, which transfers heat
to the x-ray tube insert and ultimately to the
surrounding oil bath.
 The area in the anode struck by the electron from the cathode.
 It is made up of tungsten (Z=74) alloy embedded in the copper
anode.
 Rotating anode
 Entire disc is the target
 Alloying the tungsten (90%)with rhenium (10%)
 Added mechanical strength to withstand the stresses of high
speed rotation and the effects of repetitive expansion and
contraction (rigidity)
 provides added resistance to surface damage
 High Z of tungsten provides better bremsstrahlung
production efficiency compared to low Z elements.
 Mammography x-ray tube
 Molybdenum (Z= 42) and rhodium (Z=45) served as
targets.
 These materials provide useful characteristic x-rays for
breast imaging
HIGH CAPACITY X-RAY TUBES HAVE MOLYBDENUM AND/OR
GRAPHITE LAYERED UNDER THE TUNGSTEN TARGET.

Both molybdenum and graphite have lower mass density than

tungsten, which makes the anode easier to rotate.
CHARACTERISTICS OF X-RAY TARGETS

CHEMICAL ATOMIC K-XRAY MELTING

ELEMENT
SYMBOL NUMBER ENERGY TEMP.

Tungsten W 74 69keV 3410°C

Molybdenum Mo 42 20keV 2600°C

Rhodium Rh 45 23keV 3200°C

 Is defined as the angle of target anode surface with respect
to the central ray in the x-ray field.
 Anode angles in diagnostic x-ray tubes range from 7 to 20
degrees, with 12 to 15-degree angles being most
common.
 A smaller anode angle  smaller effective focal spot for the
same actual focal area
 Smaller effective focal spot size provides better spatial
resolution.
 Small anode angle limits the size of the usable x-ray
field owing to cutoff of the beam.

 A small anode angle (7 to 9 degrees) is desirable for

small field-of-view image receptors such as
cineangiographic and neuroangiographic
equipment, where field coverage is limited by the
Image Intensifier diameer.
Larger anode angle (12 to 15 degrees) are very
necessary for general radiographic work to
achieve large field area coverage at short focal
spot-to-image distances.
 Line focus principle
• The area of the x-ray
tube anode from which
the x-ray photons are
emitted.

• This is called the actual

focal spot
 Line focus principle
• Was incorporated into x-
ray tube targets to allow
a large area for heating
while maintaining a small
focal spot.

• The effective focal spot

is the area projected
onto the patient and film.
 Line focus principle
• Focal spot sizes always
make reference to the
effective focal spot.

• The lower the target

angle, the smaller the
effective focal spot
size.
Line focus principle
 Line focus principle
• the anode angle causes the effective
focal spot length to be smaller than the
actual focal spot length.

• Effective focal length =

Actual focal length X 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝑶 (Anode angle)
Line focus principle
 Line focus principle
• The advantage of the
line-focus principle is
that it provides the
detail of a small focal
spot while allowing a
large amount of heat
dissipation.
 Line focus principle

• The unfortunate bi-product of the line-focus

principle is the “anode heel effect”
 TOOLS FOR MEASURING
FOCAL SPOT SIZE
• 1. Pinhole camera
– very small circular aperture (10 to 30 /lm
diameter)
– bi-gaussian ("double banana") intensity
distribution.
 TOOLS FOR MEASURING
FOCAL SPOT SIZE
• 2. Slit camera
– Consists of a plate made of a highly
attenuating metal (usually tungsten) with
a thin slit, typically 10 micrometer wide
 TOOLS FOR MEASURING
FOCAL SPOT SIZE
• 3. Star pattern
– contains a radial pattern of lead spokes of
diminishing width and spacing on a thin
plastic disk.
 TOOLS FOR MEASURING
FOCAL SPOT SIZE
• 4. Resolution bar pattern
– is a simple tool for in-the-field evaluation offocal
spot size
 Anode heel effect
• Construction phenomenon that causes the
x-ray photons exiting the tube on the
cathode side to have a greater energy
value than those exiting the tube on the
anode side.

• More energy absorption occurs at the

anode heel resulting in less energy value
from the incident photons at the anode
heel.
Anode heel effect
Anode heel effect
• This is used to advantage when
imaging anatomical parts that
are unequal in thickness and
densities throughout their
respective lengths.
 Using the anode heel effect

• The following anatomical parts may be

imaged using the anode heel effect:
– Thoracic vertebrae
– Humerus
– Femur
– Tibia & fibula
– Forearm
Using the anode heel effect
 Anode heel effect
• The thicker portion of the anatomical part is
placed beneath the cathode end of the x-ray
tube.
Using the anode heel effect
• Some of the electrons bounce off the focal spot and
then land on other areas of the target, causing x-rays to
be produced from outside of the focal spot
• The length of x-ray tube life is primarily under the
control of radiologic technologists.
• Basically, x-ray tube life is extended by using the
minimum radiographic factors of mA, kVp, and
exposure time that are appropriate for each
examination.
• Enormous heat is generated in the anode of the
x-ray tube during x-ray exposure.
• This heat must be dissipated for the x-ray tube to
continue to function.
• This heat can be dissipated in one of three
ways:
• Radiation
• Conduction
• Convection
• When the temperature of the anode is excessive
during a single exposure, localized surface melting
and
pitting of the anode can occur.

• These surface irregularities result in variable and

reduced radiation output.
• Radiologic technologists are guided in the use of
x-ray tubes by x-ray tube rating charts.

• radiographic rating chart

• anode cooling chart
• housing cooling chart.
Safe or Unsafe?
95 kVp, 150 mA, 1 s; 3400 rpm;
0.6-mm focal spot
Safe or Unsafe?
125 kVp, 500 mA, 0.1 s; 10,000 rpm;
1-mm focal spot
ANODE COOLING CHART
A particular examination results in delivery of
50,000 HU to the anode in a matter of seconds.
How long will it take the anode to cool
completely?
 Heat unit
The heat unit (HU) provides a simple way of
expressing the energy deposition on and
dissipation from the anode of an x-ray tube
Energy (HU) = peak voltage (kVp) X tube current
(mA) X exposure time (see)
 Heat unit
Three-phase (6-pulse)
1.35 Modification factor
Three-phase (12-pulse)
1.41
 High frequency
1.45
Constant-potential generators
1.40
QUIZ
3
 1. Which of the following is
a method of electrification

• A. Diffraction
• B. Excitation
• C. Induction
• D. transmission
2. Ohm’s law states that:

• A. Electric current is the product of voltage

and resistance
• B. Electric power is equal to current
squared times voltage
• C. the electric potential is equal to current
times resistance square
• D. Electric potential is the product of
current and resistance
3. Which of the following equations can be
used to calculate power consumption?

• A.P= 𝑰 V
𝟐

• B. P= IR
• C. P= IV
• D. P =I/V
4. The magnitude of the induced current
depends on four factors according to faradays
law, EXCEPT:

• A. The strength of the magnetic field

• B. The velocity of the magnetic field as
it moves past the conductor
• C. The charge of the conductor
• D. The number of turns in the
conductor
5. Small anode angles typical range:

• A. 5-6 degrees
• B. 7-9 degrees
• C. 15-20 degrees
• D. 20-25 degrees
• A. Titanium and Niobium
• B. Copper and iron
• C. Francium and Gadolinium
• D. Germanium and Silicon
 The lower the target angle, the
smaller the effective focal spot size,
the lesser is the heel effect.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Maybe
• D. Not related
 The following are tools for
measuring focal spot size, except:

• A. Pinhole
• B. Resolution bar pattern
• C. Electronic circle pattern
• D. Slit camera
 Turns ratio is defined as:

• A. Primary iron core/ secondary core

• B. Secondary current / primary current
• C. No. of turns primary / No. of turns
secondary
• D. No. of turns secondary / No. turns
primary
• 10. A series of electromagnets surrounding
the rotor outside the x-ray tube envelope
makes up the Stator, and the combination is
known as an:

• A. Electric Motor
• B. Electric Generator
• C. Electromagnetic Induction motor
• D. Power house