ATTENUATION OF X-RAYS

IN MATTER
 ATTENUATION
■ Attenuation is the reduction in the intensity
of an x-ray beam as it traverses matter, either
by the absorption of photons or deflection
(scattering) of photons from the beam.
Attenuation: Monochromatic X-rays
Monochromatic Attenuation (Con’t)
■ Exponential Attenuation:
Nx = N0 e -µx
Where:
Nx = #transmitted photons
N0 = # incident photons
µ = Linear Atten coeff
X = Absorber thickness
■ Half-Value Layer (HVL):
Nx/N0 = 0.5 = e -µ x HXL
HVL = Ln(0.5)/µ = 0.693/µ
 Attenuation Coefficients
■ Linear Attenuation Coefficient (µ):
– Units of 1/thickness (cm-1)
– Fraction of x-rays removed per cm of attenuator
– Strictly defined for monochromatic x-rays only
– Can breakdown into individual components:
µtot = µpe + µcompton + µcoherent
– Useful for diagnostic x-ray: often want to know
attenuation as a function of depth.
 Mass Attenuation Coefficient

Hartford Hospital Radiology

 Attenuation Coefficients
■ Mass Attenuation Coefficient (µ/ρ ):
– Lin Atten Coeff divided by physical density, ρ
– Removes effect of state (ie, liquid, gas) from µ
– Units of area per gram (cm2/g): “cross-section”
 Mass Attenuation Coefficient
■ Over most of the
diagnostic x-ray
energies, tin is a
better x-ray absorber
gram for gram than
lead.
Attenuation: Polychromatic X-rays
Polychromatic (Brems) X-ray Energy
■ “Rule of Thumb”: In general,
The mean energy of a polychromatic x-ray
beam (bremsstrahlung x-rays) is
between one- third and one-half of its peak
energy.

■ More Specific: Effective Energy

µeff = 0.693/HVL
 Factors Affecting Attenuation
■ For imaging, we are interested in differences in
attenuation from point to point within a patient.
It is this differential attenuation that produces
subject contrast. Both x-ray and tissue factors
affect differential attenuation
FACTORS: X-Ray Beam Tissue
3
-- Energy -- Density (g/cm )
-- Atomic Number
-- Electrons/gram
Factors Affecting Photoelectric Effect
■ Together, the x-ray beam energy and the attenuator
atomic number determine how much photoelectric
interactions occur
PERCENT PHOTOELECTRIC INTERACTIONS
Compact Sodium
X-ray Water Bone Iodine
Energy (Z=7.4) (Z=13.8) (Z=49.8)

20 keV 65% 89% 84%

60 keV 7% 31% 95%
100 keV 2% 9% 88%
 Density and Electrons per Gram
■ The number of compton interactions depends
on the number of electrons encountered in a
volume, or electron density (e/cm3)

e/cm3 = (e/gram) x (gram/cm3)

Electrons per Gram of Matter (con’t)
■ No = NZ/A
No = number of electrons per gram
N = Avogadro’s number (6.02 x 1023)
Z = Atomic Number
A = Atomic Weight
■ For most Low Atomic Number elements:
Z/A = ½ (since # of neutrons = # protons), so
No = N/2
 ELECTRONS PER GRAM
ELECTRONS/GRAM FOR COMMON ELEMENTS
Element Atomic # - Z Mass # - A Electrons/Gram

23
Hydrogen 1 1 6.02 x 10
23
Carbon 6 7 3.01 x 10
23
Nitrogen 7 14 3.01 x 10
23
Oxygen 8 16 3.01 x 10
23
Calcium 20 41 3.00 x 10
 Density and DifferentialAttenuation
■ Most interactions in Dx x-ray are Compton
■ Compton scatter depends on electron density
■ Differences in tissue electron density mainly
due to differences in physical density (little
variation in e/gram)
■ Thus: differences in tissue density is one of the
primary reasons why we see an x-ray image.
Density determines e/cm3 of the tissue, and thus
determines its x-ray stopping power.
Attenuation:
Summary