Basic Of X-

Ray
Production
David Malombe Mutia
Technical University of Mombasa
 Atomic Structure

– An atom is composed of electrons (with a negative charge),

protons (with a positive charge) and neutrons (no charge). The
protons and neutrons are found in the nucleus of the atom and the
electrons rotate (orbit) around the nucleus.

– The number of electrons equals the number of protons in an atom

so that the atom has no net charge (electrically neutral).

– Different materials (for example, gold and lead) will have different
numbers of protons/electrons in their atoms. However, all the
atoms in a given material will have the same number of electrons
and protons.
– The electrons are maintained in their orbits around the nucleus by
two opposing forces. The first of these, known as electrostatic
force, is the attraction between the negative electrons and the
positive protons.

– This attraction causes the electrons to be pulled toward the

protons in the nucleus.

– In order to keep the electrons from dropping into the nucleus, the
other force, known as centrifugal force, pulls the electrons away.

– The balance between these two forces keeps the electrons in

orbit.
 Electromagnetic Radiation

– An x-ray is one type of electromagnetic radiation.

Electromagnetic radiation represents the movement
of energy through space as a combination of electric
and magnetic fields.
– All types of electromagnetic radiation, which also
includes radiowaves, tv waves, visible light,
microwaves and gamma rays, travel at the speed of
light (186,000 miles per second). They travel through
space in wave form.
Rutherford’s Model

– Rutherford’s model describes an atom as mostly

empty space, with a center nucleus that contains
nearly all the mass.
 Bohr’s Model

– Modified Rutherford’s model in 1913

– Proposed that each electron has a certain
amount of energy.
- Helped electron move around nucleus.
– Electrons move around nucleus in region
called energy levels.
– Energy levels surround nucleus in rings, like
layers of onion
Bohr’s Model

– Has been called planetary model

- Energy levels occupied by electrons are like
orbits of planets at different distances from
the sun (nucleus)
Electron Cloud Model

– Model accepted today

– Electrons dart around in an energy level
– Rapid, random motion creates a “cloud” of
negative charge around nucleus
– Electron cloud gives atom its size and shape
TRIVIA

A hydrogen atom lost its electron and went to the police

station to file a missing electron report. He was questioned by
the police: "Haven't you just misplaced it somewhere? Are
you sure that your electron is really lost?“

"I'm positive." replied the atom.

Electron Cloud Model
Bremsstrahlung Radiation
 Bremsstrahlung Radiation

When an electron passes close to the nucleus of an

anode atom, it is deflected, and its speed or energy
reduced. At the same time, an X-ray photon is
produced, which has an energy level equal to that
lost by the electron
Peak X-ray energy, expressed in 'electron-volts'
occurs only when an electron strikes the nucleus,
giving up all its energy immediately.

The electron will continue to pass through the anode

atoms, and produce further X-ray photons.

However, about 99.5% of the electron energy is lost in

generating heat.
Bremsstrahlung Radiation

A projectile e- that completely avoids

the orbital e- as it passes through a
target atom may pass close enough to
the nucleus of the atom to convert
some of the projectile e- kinetic
energy to EM energy

 Because of the electrostatic force?

Characteristic Radiation

 Projectilee- with high enough energy to

totally remove an inner-shell electron of the
tungsten target

 Characteristic x-rays are produced when

outer-shell e- fills an inner-shell void

 All
tube interactions result in a loss of kinetic
energy from the projectile e-
  It is called
characteristic
because it is
characteristic of
the target element
in the energy of
the photon
produced
 Properties of x-rays

– Are electromagnetic – Travel at speed of light.

radiations composed of – Travel in straight lines.
small packets of energy
called photons. – Highly penetrating.
– Invisible.
– Blacken radiographic films.
– Produce scatter.
Principles Part Of X-Ray
Imaging System

– X-ray Physics
– The system is designed to provide a large number
of e- with high kinetic energy focused to a small
target
– X-ray tube
– Operating Console
– High-voltage generator
Discovery of x-rays

– Discovered in 1895 by German physicist named

Wilhelm Roentgen.
– He found shadow of his bone on fluorescent
screen.
Productions Of X-Ray

Requirements:

– a source of fast moving electrons

– must be a sudden stop of the electrons’
motion
– in stopping the electron motion, kinetic
energy (KE) is converted to EMS energies
– Infrared (heat), light & x-ray energies
Productions Of X-Ray

– Power is sent to x-ray tube via cables

– mA (milliamperage) is sent to filament on
cathode side.
– Filament heats up – electrons “boil off”
– Negative charge
Productions Of X-Ray

– Positive voltage (kVp) is applied to ANODE

– Negative electrons = attracted across the tube to
the positive ANODE.
– Electrons “slam into” anode – suddenly stopped.
– X-RAY PHOTONS ARE CREATED
 Productions Of X-Ray

 Electronbeam is focused from the cathode

to the anode target by the focusing cup

 Electrons
interact with the electrons on
the tungsten atoms of target material

 PHOTONS sent through the window PORT –

towards the patient
 The x-ray tube.

– The tube head consists of a pair of electrodes.

A negatively charged cathode with include a
heater filaments.
A positively charged a node with a tungsten
target.
Steps in x-ray production.

– Filament is heated and gives off cloud of

electrons.
– A large electrical charge is placed in the
cathode/anode space causing the electrons to
race toward the anode.
– When they crush into the anode it causes x-ray to
be given off.
X-rays are produced in the x-ray tube, which is
located in the x-ray tube head. X-rays are
generated when electrons from the filament
cross the tube and interact with the target.

The two main components of the x-ray

tube are the cathode and the anode.
The cathode is composed of a
tungsten filament which is
centered in a focusing cup.

Electrons are produced by the

filament and are focused on the
target of the anode where the
x-rays are produced.

The focusing cup has a negative

charge, like the electrons, and
this helps direct the electrons to
the target (“focuses” them;
electrons can be focused, x-rays
cannot). side view (cross-
section) front view (facing
target)
 Thermionic Emission

When you depress the

exposure button, electricity
flows through the filament in
the cathode, causing it to get
hot. The hot filament then
releases electrons which
surround the filament
(thermionic emission). The
hotter the filament gets, the
greater the number of
electrons that are released.
(Click to depress exposure
button and heat filament).
x-section of filament hot
filament electrons
 Line Focus Principle

The sharpness (detail) of images seen on a

radiograph is influenced by the size of the focal spot
(area in the target where x-rays are produced).

The smaller the focal spot (target), the sharper the

image of the teeth will be. During x-ray production, a
lot of heat is generated.

If the target is too small, it will overheat and burn

up. In order to get a small focal spot, while
maintaining an adequately large target , the line
focus principle is used.
X-ray tube head

Stationary
Rotating anode.
anode.
– Found in large
smaller
machines.
machines.
– The target is rotate
fixed ininblock
tungsten
of copper.
disc.
– Higher
Only capable
outputofproducing.
low output.
– mA up
to 30
to 300
High voltage is applied b/w cathode and anode.
The electrons are emitted from the filament by thermionic
emission and accelerated towards the anode and strike the
target.
– X-ray tube is an device for generating X-
rays by accelerating electrons to high
energies and causing them to strike a
metal target from which X-rays are
emitted.
The control panel.

– The three factors that can be varied during

producing radiograph are
- The kilovoltage (KV) difference applied between
the anode and cathode during exposure.
- The milliamperage (mA) applied to the filament.
- The duration of exposure.
Control panel

– Higher kv attract the electrons toward the

anode by greater force.
– They smash the anode harder and produce x-
ray with higher energy and greater tissue
penetrating power.
– Increasing mA increase the number of electrons
cloud around the filament. Result in higher
number of x-ray produced per second.
QUIZ

C B
Heat

 Most kinetic energy of projectile

e- is converted into heat – 99%

 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
Heat is an excitation
rather than an ionization
Heat Production

Production of heat in the anode

increases directly with increasing
x-ray tube current & kVp
Doubling the x-ray tube current
doubles the heat produced
IncreasingkVp will also increase
heat production
Bremsstrahlung Radiation

 Heat& Characteristic produces EM

energy by e- interacting with
tungsten atoms e- of the target
material

 Bremsstrahlung is produced by e-
interacting with the nucleus of a
target tungsten atom
X-ray energy

 Characteristic
x-rays have very specific
energies. K-characteristic x-rays require
a tube potential of a least 70 kVp

 Bremsstrahlung x-rays that are

produced can have any energy level up
to the set kVp value. Brems can be
produced at any projectile e- value
Discrete spectrum

– Contains only specific values

Continuous Spectrum

– Contains all possible values

Characteristic X-ray
Spectrum

Characteristic has discrete

energies based on the e- binding
energies of tungsten

Characteristicx-ray photons can

have 1 of 15 different energies
and no others
Characteristic X-Ray
Spectrum
Bremsstrahlung X-ray
Spectrum

Brems x-rays
have a range
of energies
and form a
continuous
emission
spectrum
Factors Affecting
the x-ray emission spectrum

 Tube current, Tube voltage, Added

filtration, Target material, Voltage
waveform

 Thegeneral shape of an emission

spectrum is always the same, but the
position along the energy axis can
change
 Quality:
– Quality refers to the overall energy of the beam
– As the X-ray beam is polyenergetic, any factors that
increase or decrease the average energy of photons in
the beam affect x-ray beam quality.
– Quality is directly affected by,
i. Changes in kVP
ii. Changes in the material(atomic number Z) of the
target material.
iii. Changes in the filtration.
iv. The type of waveform used (i.e., 1φ, 3φ, or high
frequency).
 Quantity:
– Quantity refers to the number of X-ray photons in the beam .
– As the number of photons increases, the beam intensity
increases & any factors that affect the number of x-ray
photons in the beam influence x-ray beam quantity.
Quantity is affected by:
i. Changes in mA (tube current).
ii. Changes in the filtration.
iii. Changes in the material (Z number) of target.
iv. Changes in kVP
v. Changes in type of waveform used.
– vi. Changes in distance from the tube (FFD).
Quality And Quantity ??
 Effect of changes in mA:

Tube current (mA) is the

rate of electron flow from
filament to target
(electron/sec) and
measured in miliamperes•

As the tube current (mA)

increases, the number of
incoming electrons
striking target increases
•As the tube current (mA) increases, the number of incoming
electrons striking target increases.

•In addition the number of X-ray photons produced in both

Bremsstrahlung and characteristic x-ray portions of x-ray spectrum is
altered.
•The relationship between the mA and the number of photons
produced directly affects the amplitude of the x-ray emission
spectrum.
•Eg: if we double the tube current (mA) the number of the x-ray
photons will be doubled.
•The changes in the mA does not produces energy shifts in either
portion of spectrum .
mAs

– A change in mA or s or both results in the

amplitude change of the x-ray emission spectrum
at all energies

– The shape of the curve will remain the same

mA increase from 200 to
400
 Effects of changes in kVP:
Peak kilo voltage (kVp ) is the maximum voltage applied across an
X-ray tube, it determines the kinetic energy of the electrons
accelerated in the X-ray tube and the peak energy of the X-ray
spectrum.
The changes in the kVp varies the energy of the
incoming electrons prior to maximum energy of
X-ray photons in Bremsstrahlung spectrum.
•Hence as kVp increases more higher energy
photons are included in the beam , raising the
average energy of the beam.
•In addition, the increase in kVp increases
the speed with which incoming electrons
strike the target.
•Each time an incoming electron undergoes a
deceleration about a target atom nucleus,
Bremsstrahlung photons are produced,
resulting in overall Bremsstrahlung photons
Exposure is approximately proportional to the square of
kVp in the
diagnostic energy range
Exposure α (kVp)
Eg: the relative exposure of a beam generated with 80 kVp
compared with that
of 60 kVp for the same tube current and exposure time is
calculated as follows:
(80)2 ≈ 1.78
(60)2
Therefore, the output exposure increases by approximately 78%.
An increase in kVp increases the efficiency of x-ray production
and the quantity and quality of the x-ray beam.
 kVp

– A change in voltage peak affects both the

amplitude and the position of the x-ray emission
spectrum
Target Material

– The atomic number of the target affects

both the quantity and quality of x-rays

– Increasing the target atomic number

increases the efficiency of x-ray
production and the energy of
characteristic and bremsstrhlung x-rays
Target material
 Voltage Waveform

– 5 voltage waveforms: half-wave

rectification, full-wave rectification, 3-
phase/6-pulse, 3-phase/12-pulse, and
high-frequency.

– Maintaining high voltage potential

Voltage Generators
X-Ray Interaction with
Matter

1. Photoelectric absorption
2. Coherent scattering
3. Compton scattering
4. Pair production
5. Photodisintegration
Question ???