MI X-Ray 02
MI X-Ray 02
MI X-Ray 02
School of Biomedical
Engineering
Medical Imaging Modalities
Lecture Four
Fluoroscopy.
Recap
• X-ray production
- Console
The purpose of oil in an x-ray tube is to provide insulation and cooling for the high
voltage components. The oil helps to prevent electrical arcing and dissipates heat
generated during the x-ray production process.
Tube
Interactions
• Possible tube interactions Heat is an excitation
rather than an ionization
• Heat
– Most kinetic energy of projectile e-
is converted into heat
– Projectile e- interact with the outer-
shell e-
of
the target atoms but do not transfer
enough energy to the outer-shell e-
to ionize.
Tube Interactions
• x-rays
• Bremsstrahlung (80%)
Characteristic Radiation
• An electron from the adjacent L-shell (or possibly a different shell) fills the vacancy.
• A characteristic x-ray photon is emitted with an energy equal to the difference between
• X-ray tube voltages must exceed 69.5 kV for W targets, 20 kV for Mo targets, and
Only K-
characteristic
x-rays of
tungsten are
useful for
imaging
Characteristic Radiation
• It has discrete
energies based on the
e- binding energies
of tungsten
Bremsstrahlung Radiation
• Bremsstrahlung radiation arises from energetic electron interactions with an
• In a "close" approach, the positive nucleus attracts the negative electron, causing
ray.
• The X-ray energy depends on the interaction distance between the electron and the
– Scattering
» Compton scattering)
– Photoelectric absorption (transfer its energy to atoms of the target material)
– Pair production
Rayleigh Scattering
• It is the collision of a photon with an electron such that the photon is deflected into a
new direction…elastic scattering
• The incident photon transfers parts of its energy to an outer shell “free” electron,
ejecting it from atom.
• Dominant type of interaction in material with lower atomic numbers,(human tissue) (Z=7.5)
Compton scattering
• The energy of the scattered
photon is
• When higher energy photons interact with low Z materials (e.g., soft tissue), Compton
scattering dominates.
• Rayleigh scattering occurs with low probability, 10% of the interactions in mammography and
5% in chest radiography.
• Only at very high photon energies (>1.02 MeV), pair production contribute to attenuation.
Attenuation of photons in matter
Attenuation of photons in matter
Linear attenuation coefficient
• The linear attenuation coefficient is the sum of the individual
linear attenuation coefficients for each type of interaction:
– For instance
Attenuation of photons in matter
Mass attenuation coefficient
• For a given thickness, the probability of interaction is
dependent on the number of atoms per volume.
• This dependency can be overcome by normalizing the linear attenuation coefficient for the
density of the material, called the mass attenuation coefficient:
Half value layer
• The thickness of material required to reduce the intensity of an x-or gamma-ray
beam to one-half of its initial value.
Mean free path
• One cannot predict the range of a single photon in
matter.
• However, the average distance a photon traveled before
interaction is called the mean free path (MFP) of the
photon beam,
Example 1
• The acquisition of a 2D
anatomy
Basic principles
Instrumentation of Planer Radiography
• Basic components of a planar X-ray radiography system are:
– X-ray tube
– a collimator
• reduce the patient dose and amount of Compton scattered X-rays,
– an anti-scatter grid
• reduce further the contribution of scattered X-rays to the image,
– a detector
• converts the energy of the transmitted X-rays into light
X-ray tube collimator assembly
X-ray Detectors
• Traditional x-ray film
– Screen-film radiography
• Digital detectors
– Computed radiography
– Digital radiography
Screen-film cassette
• The screen-film detector system used for general
radiography consists of
– a cassette,
– a sheet of film.
• When x-rays interact in the phosphor, visible or ultraviolet (UV) light is emitted.
• It is the light given off by the screens that principally causes the
film to be darkened.
Principles Intensifying Screens
Screen cassette with x-ray interaction
• Emulsion
Active layer
Gelatin containing the film crystals
Silver halide (silver bromide (AgBr)) which when exposed to light, produces a silver
ion (Ag+) and an electron.
The electrons get attached to the sensitivity specks and attract the silver ion.
Subsequently, the silver ions attach and clumps of metallic silver (black) are formed
X-ray film
The Latent Image
• The silver halide grains, fixed in a thin gelatin film, oxidize
(A) Schematic distribution of silver halide grains. The gray areas indicate
latent image produced by exposure. (B) Partial development begins to produce
metallic silver (black) in exposed grains. C) Development completed. (D)
Unexposed silver grains have been removed by fixing.
Computed Radiography(CR)
• CR differs from analog in that the CR cassette contains a phosphor plate
instead of a sheet of film
Computed Radiography
• When the x-ray energy is absorbed by the BaFBr :Eu phosphor, the absorbed energy excites
electrons associated with the europium atoms,
DETECTORS
ADC
11011101
X-
RAYS
CR
CR PLATE
SCANNER
ADC
11011101
Digital radiography detectors
– Indirect
– Direct
(CsI)
signal output
into light,
• Uses direct absorption of the X-ray photons to produce an
electrical signal.
• Materials such as amorphous selenium (alloyed with arsenic) have been
used.
of 5: 1 is typical in mammography.
Anti-scatter grid