CHAPTER 8

X-RAY PRODUCTION

ELECRON TARGET INTERACTION L X-rays

 X-rays resulting from electron transition to
Kinetic Energy the L shell
 The energy of motion
 Symbol: KE This type of x-radiation is called characteristic
 Unit: J because it is characteristic of the target
 Formula: KE = ½mv2 element!

1 keV = 1.6 x 10-16 J Bremsstrahlung Radiation

 It is produced when a projectile electron is
Projectile Electron slowed by the electric field of a target atom
 Electrons travelling from cathode to anode nucleus
 It interacts with the orbital electrons or  An interaction with the nuclear field of a
nuclear field of target atoms target atom
 Three Effects:  “slowed down radiation”
o The production of heat  It results from braking of projectile electrons
o The formation of characteristics x- by the nucleus
rays  Energy: all or none
o The formation of bremsstrahlung x-
rays High-Energy Bremsstrahlung X-ray
 It results when the projectile electrons loses
Anode Heat all its KE & simply drifts away from the
 Reasons: constant excitation & return of nucleus
outer-shell electrons
 Increases directly with increasing x-ray tube Low-Energy Bremsstrahlung X-ray
current & kVp  It results when the projectile electrons are
barely influenced by the nucleus
Efficiency of X-ray Production
 It is independent of the tube current In the diagnostic range, most x-rays are
 It increases with increasing kVp bremsstrahlung x-rays!

Characteristic Radiation X-RAY EMISSION SPECTRUM

 It is emitted when an outer-shell electron
fills an inner-shell void Spectrum
 An interaction with the inner-shell of a  Graphic representation of the range over
target atom which a quantity extends
 Energy: very specific
Discrete Spectrum
Only the K-characteristic x-rays of tungsten  It contains only specific values
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are useful for imaging!

Continuous Spectrum
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K X-rays  It contains all possible values

 X-rays resulting from electron transition to
the K shell X-ray Emission Spectrum
 It can be graphed as the number of x-rays
for each increment of energy in keV

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X-RAY PRODUCTION

Characteristic X-ray Spectrum FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE SIZE &

 A plot of the frequency with which RELATIVE POSITION OF X-RAY EMISSION
characteristic x-rays are emitted as a SPECTRA
function of energy Factors Effect
Tube Current Amplitude of spectrum
Characteristic x-rays have precisely fixed Tube Voltage Amplitude & position
(discrete) energies and form a discrete Added Filtration Amplitude, most effective at
emission spectrum! low energy
Target Material Amplitude of spectrum &
Bremsstrahlung X-ray Spectrum position of line spectrum
 It extends from zero to maximum projectile Voltage Waveform Amplitude, most effective at
electron energy high energy
 Greatest Number of X-rays Emitted: 1/3 of
the maximum energy Effect of mA and mAs
 Shape: the same for all x-ray imaging  A change in mA or mAs results in a
system proportional change in the amplitude of the
 Maximum Energy (keV): equal to kVp x-ray emission spectrum at all energies
operation
 Number of X-rays: decreases rapidly at very Four Principal Factors Influencing The Shape of X-
low energies ray Emission Spectrum
 Low-energy electrons interact to produce
Bremsstrahlung x-rays have a range of low energy x-rays
energies & form a continuous emission  Successive interactions of electrons result in
spectrum! the production of x-rays with lower energy
 Low-energy x-ray are most likely to be
absorbed by the target material
Maximum x-ray energy is associated with the  Added filtration preferentially removes low-
minimum x-ray wavelength (λmin) energy x-rays from the useful beam

FACTORS AFFECTING THE X-RAY Effect of kVp

EMISSION SPECTRUM  A change in kVp affects both the amplitude
& the position of the x-ray emission
Integration spectrum
 A process that determines the total number  A change in kVp has no effect on the
of x-rays emitted position of the discrete x-ray emission
 Adding the number of x-ray emitted at each spectrum
energy over the entire spectrum
Rule of Thumb
Effective Energy/Quality of X-ray Beam  It states a 15% increase in kVp is equivalent
 Higher: the farther to the right of a spectrum
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to doubling the mAs
o Purpose: to obtain a given OD on
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Intensity/Quantity of X-ray Beam the radiograph

 Higher: the larger the area under the curve o It does not double the x-ray intensity
 40% increase in kVp: doubling the output
intensity (not necessary)

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 CHAPTER 8
X-RAY PRODUCTION

CHANGES IN X-RAY BEAM QUALITY &

In diagnostic range, a 15% increase in kVp is QUANTITY PRODUCED BY FACTORS
equivalent to doubling the mAs! THAT INFLUENCE THE EMISSION
SPECTRUM
Added Filtration An increase in Result in
 It reduces x-ray beam intensity while An increase in quantity.
increasing average energy Current (mAs)
No change in quality
 It absorbs low-energy x-rays An increase in quantity
Voltage (kVp)
 Hardening of the x-ray beam & quality
 Characteristic Spectrum: not affected Added Filtration
A decrease in quantity.
An increase in quality
Effect of Added Filtration Target Atomic Number An increase in quality &
 It results in an increase in the average (Z) quantity
energy of the x-ray beam with an A decrease in quantity &
Voltage Ripple
accompanying reduction in x-ray quantity quality

Effect of Target Material

 Increasing target atomic number enhances
the efficiency of x-ray production & the
energy of characteristic & bremsstrahlung x-
rays
 Discrete Emission Spectrum: shifts to the
right with an increase in target Z
 Continuous Emission Spectrum: increases
slightly in amplitude (high-energy side) with
an increase in target Z

Voltage Waveforms
 Half-wave Rectification
 Full-wave Rectification
 Three-phase/six-pulse
 Three-phase/twelve-pulse
 High Frequency

Effect of Voltage Waveform

 As the voltage across the x-ray tube
increases from zero to its peak value, x-ray
intensity & energy increase slowly at first &
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then rapidly as peak voltage is obtained
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Because of reduced ripple, operation with

three-phase power or high frequency is
equivalent to an approximate 12% increase in
kVp or almost a doubling of mAs over single-
phase power!
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