Resident

Resident Physics
Physics Lectures
Lectures

• Christensen, Chapter 5

Attenuation
 Beam
Beam Characteristics
Characteristics

• Quantity
– number of photons in beam

1, 2, 3, ...
~
~
~ ~
~
 Beam
Beam Characteristics
Characteristics
• Quality
– energy distribution of photons in beam

1 @ 27 keV, 2 @ 32 Energy Spectrum

keV, 2 at 39 keV, ...

~ ~ 10 20 30 40 50
Energy
60 70 80

~ ~
~
~ ~
~
 Beam
Beam Characteristics
Characteristics

• Intensity
– weighted product of number and energy of
photons
– depends on
324 mR
» quantity
» quality ~
~ ~
~ ~ ~
~ ~
 Beam
Beam Intensity
Intensity

• Can be measured in terms of #

of ions created in air by beam
• Valid for monochromatic or
for polychromatic beam
324 mR

-
~
+
 Monochromatic
Monochromatic Radiation
Radiation

• Radioisotope
– Not x-ray beam

• all photons in beam

have same energy
• attenuation results in
– Change in beam quantity
– no change in beam quality
» # of photons & total energy of
beam changes by same
fraction
 Attenuation
Attenuation Coefficient
Coefficient

• Parameter indicating fraction of

radiation attenuated by a given
absorber thickness
• Attenuation Coefficient is function of
– absorber
– photon energy
 Linear
Linear Attenuation
Attenuation Coef.
Coef.
• Why called linear?
– distance expressed in linear dimension “x”
• Formula
N = No e -x

where

N = number of incident photons

o
N = number of transmitted photons

e = base of natural logarithm (2.718…)

 = linear attenuation coefficient (1/cm); property of

energy
N N
material
o
x = absorber thickness (cm)

x
 Linear
Linear Attenuation
Attenuation Coef.
Coef.
Larger Coefficient = More Attenuation
• Units:
1 / cm ( or 1 / distance)
• Properties N = No e - x
– reciprocal of absorber thickness that reduces beam intensity by e
(~2.718…)
» ~63% reduction
» 37% of original intensity remaining
– as photon beam energy increases
» penetration increases / attenuation decreases
» attenuating distance increases
» linear attenuation coefficient decreases

• Note: Same equation as used for

radioactive decay
Linear
Linear &
& Mass
Mass Attenuation
Attenuation Coefficient
Coefficient
• coefficient • coefficient ()
() – Mass atten. Coef.
– Linear atten. cm 2 / g {linear atten.
Coef. coef. / density}
1 / cm
• absorber • absorber
thickness(x) thickness(x)
– linear – mass
cm g / cm2 {linear
distance X density}

N = No e -x
 Mass
Mass Attenuation
Attenuation Coef.
Coef.

• Mass attenuation coefficient =

linear attenuation coefficient
divided by density
– normalizes for density
– expresses attenuation of a material independent
of physical state

• Notes
– references often give mass attenuation coef.
– linear may be more useful in radiology
 Monochromatic
Monochromatic Radiation
Radiation

• Let’s graph the attenuation of a

monochromatic x-ray beam vs.
attenuator thickness
 Monochromatic
Monochromatic Radiation
Radiation
• Yields straight line on
semi-log graph
1

Fraction .1
(also fraction of
energy) .01
Remaining or
Transmitted .001

1 2 3 4 5
Attenuator Thickness
Polychromatic
Polychromatic Radiation
Radiation

• X-Ray beam contains spectrum of

photon energies
– highest energy = peak kilovoltage applied to tube
– mean energy 1/3 - 1/2 of peak
» depends on filtration
 X-Ray
X-Ray Beam
Beam Attenuation
Attenuation

• reduction in beam Lower

Energy
Higher
Energy
intensity by
– absorption (photoelectric)
– deflection (scattering)

• Attenuation alters beam

– quantity
– quality
» higher fraction of low energy
photons removed
» Beam Hardening
 Half
Half Value
Value Layer
Layer (HVL)
(HVL)

N = No e -x
• absorber thickness that reduces
beam intensity by exactly half
• Units of thickness
• value of “x” which makes N
equal to No / 2
HVL = .693 / 
 Half
Half Value
Value Layer
Layer (HVL)
(HVL)

• Indication of beam quality

• Valid concept for all beam
types
– Mono-energetic
– Poly-energetic
• Higher HVL means
– more penetrating beam
– lower attenuation coefficient
Factors
Factors Affecting
Affecting Attenuation
Attenuation

• Energy of radiation / beam quality

– higher energy
» more penetration
» less attenuation

• Matter
– density
– atomic number
– electrons per gram
– higher density, atomic number, or electrons per
gram increases attenuation
 Polychromatic
Polychromatic Attenuation
Attenuation
• Yields curved line on semi-log
graph
– line straightens with increasing attenuation
– slope approaches that of monochromatic
beam at the peak energy
• mean energy increases with
attenuation 1

– beam hardening Fraction .1

Transmitted Polychromatic
.01

Monochromatic
.001

Attenuator Thickness
Photoelectric
Photoelectric vs.
vs. Compton
Compton

• Fractional contribution of each

determined by
– photon energy
– atomic number of absorber

• Equation
 = coherent + PE + Compton

Small
 Photoelectric
Photoelectric vs.
vs. Compton
Compton
 = coherent + PE + Compton
• As photon
energy
increases
– Both PE & Compton
decrease Interaction
Probability
– PE decreases faster
» Fraction of  that is
Compton
increases
Compton
» Fraction of  that is
PE decreases

Photoelectric

Photon Energy
 Photoelectric
Photoelectric vs.
vs. Compton
Compton
 = coherent + PE + Compton

• As atomic # increases
– Fraction of  that is PE increases
– Fraction of  that is Compton decreases
 Interaction
Interaction Probability
Probability
Photoelectric
Atomic Pair
Number of Production
Absorber

Compton

Photon Energy

• PE dominates for very low

energies
 Interaction
Interaction Probability
Probability
Photoelectric
Atomic Pair
Number of Production
Absorber

Compton

Photon Energy

• For lower atomic numbers

– Compton dominates for high energies
 Interaction
Interaction Probability
Probability
Photoelectric
Atomic Pair
Number of Production
Absorber

Compton

Photon Energy

• For high atomic # absorbers

– PE dominates throughout diagnostic energy range
 Attenuation
Attenuation &
& Density
Density

• Attenuation proportional to
density
– difference in tissue densities accounts for
much of optical density difference seen
radiographs
• # of Compton interactions
depends on electrons / unit path
– which depends on
» electrons per gram
» density
 Relationships
Relationships

• Density generally increases with atomic

#
– different states = different density
» ice, water, steam

• no relationship between density and

electrons per gram
• atomic # vs. electrons / gram
– hydrogen ~ 2X electrons / gram as most other substances
– as atomic # increases, electrons / gram decreases slightly
 Applications
Applications
• As photon energy increases
– subject (and image) contrast decreases
– differential absorption decreases
» at 20 keV bone’s linear attenuation coefficient 6 X water’s
» at 100 keV bone’s linear attenuation coefficient 1.4 X water’s

100
90
80
70
60
50 Bone
40 Water
30
20
10
0
20 keV 100 ke
 Applications
Applications
Photo-
electric Pair
Production

Compton

• At low x-ray energies

– attenuation differences between bone & soft tissue primarily
caused by photoelectric effect
» related to atomic number & density
 Applications
Applications
Photo-
electric Pair
Production

Compton

• At high x-ray energies

– attenuation differences between bone & soft tissue
primarily because of Compton scatter
» related entirely to density
 Applications
Applications

• Difference between water & fat

only visible at low energies
– effective atomic # of water slightly higher
» yields photoelectric difference
– electrons / cm almost equal
» No Compton difference
– Photoelectric dominates at low energy
 K-Edge
K-Edge

• Each electron shell has threshold

for PE effect
« Photon energy must be >= binding energy of
electron shell
• For photon energy > K-shell
binding energy
– k-shell electrons are candidates for PE
– PE interactions increase as photon energy
exceeds k-shell binding energy
 K-Edge
K-Edge
• step increase in attenuation at k-edge
energy
– K-shell electrons become available for interaction

• exception to rule of decreasing

attenuation with increasing energy

Linear
Attenuation
Coefficient

Energy
 K-Edge
K-Edge Significance
Significance
• K-edge energy insignificantly low for
low Z materials
• k-edge energy in diagnostic range for
high Z materials
• higher attenuation above k-edge
useful in
– contrast agents
– rare earth screens
– Mammography beam filters
 Scatter
Scatter Radiation
Radiation

• NO Socially Redeeming Qualities

– no useful information on image
– detracts from film quality
– exposes personnel, public

• represents 50-90% of photons

exiting patient
 Abdominal
Abdominal Photons
Photons

• ~1% of incident photons on adult

abdomen reach film
• fate of the other 99%
– mostly scatter
» most do not reach film
– absorption
 Scatter
Scatter Factors
Factors

•• Factors
Factors affecting
affecting scatter
scatter
––field
fieldsize
size
––thickness
thicknessofofbody
bodypart
part
––kVp
kVp

An increase in any of above increases

scatter.
 Scatter
Scatter &
& Field
Field Size
Size
• Reducing field size causes significant
reduction in scatter radiation

II II
Tube Tube

X-Ray X-Ray
Tube Tube
 Field
Field Size
Size &
& Scatter
Scatter

• Field Size & thickness determine

volume of irradiated tissue
• Scatter increase with increasing
field size
– initially large increase in scatter with increasing
field size
– saturation reached (at ~ 12 X 12 inch field)
» further field size increase does not increase scatter
reaching film
» scatter shielded within patient
 Thickness
Thickness &
& Scatter
Scatter

• Increasing patient thickness

leads to increased scatter

but

• saturation point reached

– scatter photons produced far from film
– shielded within body
 kVp
kVp &
& Scatter
Scatter

• kVp has less effect on scatter than

than
– field size
– thickness

• Increasing kVp
– increases scatter
– more photons scatter in forward direction
 Scatter
Scatter Management
Management

• Reduce scatter by minimizing

– field size
» within limits of exam
– thickness
» mammography compression
– kVp
» but low kVp increases patient dose
» in practice we maximize kVp
 Scatter
Scatter Control
Control Techniques:
Techniques:
Grid
Grid
• directional filter for photons
• Increases patient dose
 Angle
Angle of
of Escape
Escape

• angle over which scattered

radiation misses primary field
• escape angle larger for
» small fields
» larger distances from film
Larger Angle of Escape

Film Film
 Scatter
Scatter Control
Control Techniques:
Techniques:
Air
Air Gap
Gap
• Gap intentionally
left between
patient & image
receptor
• Natural result of
magnification
radiography
Patient
• Grid not used Air
• (covered in detail in Patient Gap
chapter 8)
Grid
Film
Cassette