27 Medical Imaging

OCR Physics A Exam-style questions

Refer to the Physics A datasheet for data, formulae and relationships information.
1 a Figure 1 shows a simplified diagram of an X-ray tube.

Figure 1
Explain, with reference to the parts labelled C and A:
 how X-rays are created
 the energy conversions that occur.

(6 marks)

b State three properties of X-rays.

(3 marks)

c The intensity, I, of a narrow beam of X-rays varies with distance, x, travelled

in a material. The variation can be modelled with the equation
I  I 0e   x

where  is the absorption coefficient for the material.

i State what I0 represents in this equation.

(1 mark)

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 27 Medical Imaging
OCR Physics A Exam-style questions

ii Bone has an absorption coefficient of 3.4 cm1.

Calculate the thickness of bone that will reduce the X-ray intensity
by 40%.

(3 marks)

2 Table 1 shows the intensity, I, of a parallel beam of X-rays after passing through
varying thickness, x, of an absorbing material.

x/mm I/kW m2

0.5 37
1.0 27
1.5 20
2.0 15
2.5 11
3.0 8
Table 1
a Using the axes of Figure 2, plot a graph of X-ray intensity, I, against
thickness of absorber.

Figure 2

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 27 Medical Imaging
OCR Physics A Exam-style questions

(3 marks)
b i Use your graph to determine the thickness, in mm, of the absorbing
material that reduces the intensity of the X-rays by 50%.

(1 mark)

ii Use your answer to i to calculate the linear absorption coefficient, . Give

the unit in which is measured.

(4 marks)

c To take effective X-ray images it is sometimes necessary to use a contrast

medium.
i Name two substances that are commonly used as medical contrast
mediums.

(2 marks)

ii State two examples of types of structures that can be imaged using a

contrast material.

(2 marks)

iii Using one of your examples, explain how the contrast material helps to
obtain an effective image.

(4 marks)

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 27 Medical Imaging
OCR Physics A Exam-style questions

3 Full-body CAT scans produce detailed 3D information about a patient and can
identify cancers at an early stage in their development.
a Describe how a CAT scan image is produced, referring to the physics
principles involved.

(7 marks)

b State and explain two reasons why full-body CAT scans are not offered for regular
checking of healthy patients.

(3 marks)

OCR 2825/02 June 2007

4 Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of an ultrasound transducer.

Figure 3

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 27 Medical Imaging
OCR Physics A Exam-style questions

a Describe how pulses of ultrasound are created by the transducer.

(3 marks)

b The transducer is used in an ultrasound A-scan.

i Name an example of a situation where the use of an A-scan would be
appropriate.

(1 mark)

ii Explain how the reflected signals are detected.

(2 marks)

iii Explain why each ultrasound pulse must be of short duration.

(1 mark)

c Figure 4 shows a cathode-ray oscilloscope (CRO) trace of an ultrasound

A-scan. The scan shows the reflections from the front and rear face of a
foetal head.

Figure 4
The CRO time base is set to 20 s cm1. The speed of ultrasound in the foetal
head is1.5 × 103 m s1.
i Calculate the size of the foetal head.

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 27 Medical Imaging
OCR Physics A Exam-style questions

(3 marks)

ii State and explain what would be seen on the CRO screen if gel had not
been applied between the ultrasound transducer and the skin of the
mother.

(3 marks)

OCR Physics A, June 2007

5 a State the condition required for ultrasound pulses to be strongly reflected at a

boundary between two media.

(1 mark)

b Calculate the percentage of ultrasound which is transmitted when the pulses

travel from the skull into the brain.
Acoustic impedance (Z) for brain tissue  1.58 × 106 kg m2 s1
Acoustic impedance for bone of skull 7.78 × 106 kg m2 s1

(3 marks)

c Figure 5 shows an ultrasound transducer placed above an artery. The

transducer emits ultrasound of frequency 2.0 MHz.

Figure 5
i Calculate the wavelength of the ultrasound in stationary blood.
Speed of ultrasound in blood  1500 m s1

(1 mark)

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 27 Medical Imaging
OCR Physics A Exam-style questions

ii Describe how the ultrasound is used to determine the speed of blood in

the artery.

(3 marks)

6 Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is a radio pharmaceutical used for positron emission

tomography (PET) scans. It contains radioactivefluorine-18, which is a
positronemitter with a half-life of 6.6 × 103 s.
A patient is injected with FDG which has an initial activity of 250 MBq.
a Calculate the decay constant of fluorine-18.

(2 marks)

b Show that the initial number of fluorine-18 nuclei in the FDG is about 2 × 1012.

(1 mark)

c About 9.9% of the mass of FDG is fluorine-18. Use your answer in b to

determine the initial mass of FDG given to the patient.
Molar mass of fluorine-18  0.018 kg mol1

(3 marks)

d A typical PET scan takes 20 minutes. Determine the activity of FDG in the
patient after this time.

(2 marks)

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 27 Medical Imaging
OCR Physics A Exam-style questions

e PET can be used to locate an area of increased activity within the brain.
Describe the principles of PET.
In your answer you should make clear how the position of increased activity
is located.

(4 marks)

OCR, January 2013

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