Lecture 7 Attenuation of X-Rays

Resident Physics Lectures
Attenuation of X-rays
Prof. J.K Tonui, PhD
School of Medicine,
Department of Radiology & Imaging
Learning Objectives
 At the end of this lecture, the student is expected to:
 Define attenuation;
 Know the characteristics of x-ray beams;
 Understand monochromatic and polychromatic x-ray beams;
 Define linear and mass attenuation coefficients;
 Define Half Value Layer (HVL) and
 Calculate various aspects of attenuation of x-rays when passing
through matter.
2 RIB 810, 811, 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019
Introduction
 Attenuation
 Is defined as the gradual loss in intensity of any kind of
energy flux when it travels thro’ a medium,

 For example, sunlight is attenuated by dark (sun) glasses,
x-rays are attenuated by lead or human body etc, and

 Hence, when x-rays pass thro’ the pt.’s body, the intensity of
exiting radiation is less than that of incident radiation.

Radiation interaction with matter
 When x-rays interact with body tissues,
 They are attenuated as they pass thro’ the pt.’s body, and
 The amount of attenuation increases as the X-ray beam passes
thro’ longer paths in the pt.’s body and

 Basically, each interaction of an X-ray photon with an atom of
the tissue removes an X-ray photon from the beam, which

results in decrease in x-ray beam intensity.

Beam Characteristics
 Quantity
 Refers to the number of photons in the x-ray beam
1, 2, 3, ...
~
~
~ ~
~
 Quality
 Refers to the energy distribution of photons in the x-ray beam
1 @ 27 keV, 2 @ 32 Energy Spectrum

keV, 2 at 39 keV, ...
~ ~
~ ~ 10 20 30 40 50
Energy
60 70 80
~
~ ~
~
 Intensity
 Weighted product of number and energy of photons and
 Equal to the product of quantity and quality.
324 mR
~
~ ~
~ ~ ~
~ ~
What is a Roentgen?
 Roentgen
 Is a unit of measurement
for amount of ionizing

radiation that produces 2.58
x 10-4 Coulomb/kg of air
@ STP
 1 C ~ 6.241509324×1018
electrons

Beam Intensity
 Beam Intensity
 Can be measured in terms of # of ions created in air by
beam and
 Is valid for monochromatic as well as polychromatic beams.
324 mR
-
~
+

Monochromatic Radiation
 Monochromatic radiation
 Are produced by radioisotope but not x-ray beam and
 All photons in a beam have same energy.
 Attenuation results in
 Change in beam quantity but
 No change in beam quality, that is
 The # of photons & total energy of beam changes by
same fraction.

Attenuation of Photons in Matter
 As a result of interactions between photons and
tissues,
 The intensity of the beam (i.e. the number of
photons remaining in the beam), decreases as the

beam passes thro’ body as shown in this Fig.
 This loss of photons
 Is called attenuation, and
 The matter through which the beam passes is Concept of

Attenuation
called attenuator.

Attenuation Coefficient
 Attenuation coefficient
 Is a parameter indicating the fraction of radiation attenuated by
a given absorber thickness, and
Is a function of:
o Absorber, and
o Photon energy.

Factors Affecting Attenuation

Linear Attenuation Coefficient
 Why called linear?
 distance expressed in linear dimension “x”
 Formula
N = No e –mx
where
N = number of incident photons

o N N
N = number of transmitted photons o
e = base of natural logarithm (2.718…)
m = linear attenuation coefficient (1/cm); property of
energy material x
x = absorber thickness (cm)

Linear Attenuation Coefficient
 Larger attenuation coefficient  more attenuation
 Units:
N = No e - m x
 1 / cm ( or 1 / distance)
 Properties
 Reciprocal of absorber thickness that reduces beam intensity by e (~2.718…)

o ~63% reduction
o 37% of original intensity remaining
 As photon beam energy increases

o penetration increases or attenuation decreases, i.e. attenuating distance increases and
o linear attenuation coefficient decreases
 Note: Same equation as used for radioactive decay

Mass Attenuation Coefficient
 Mass attenuation coefficient
 Is defined as linear attenuation coefficient divided by density
o i.e. normalized with density
 It expresses attenuation of a material regardless (independent)
of it physical state.
 Note that
 Most references often give mass attenuation coefficient but
 The linear attenuation coefficient is be more useful in radiology.

Linear & Mass Attenuation Coefficient
 Linear attenuation • Mass attenuation coefficient
coefficient (m) (mm)
 units: 1 / cm  Define as:
 absorber thickness(x) o mm= m /,
 linear o = is density of tissue
 units: cm  Units: cm 2 / g
o i.e. linear attenuation

coefficient divided density
Worked Example
 Question:
 A 2 mm thickness of tissue transmits 25 % of monochromatic
beam of radiation. Calculate the HVL of the beam.
 Solution:
 Start with attenuation equation and substitute the known
values, i.e. Iout/Iin = 25% = 0.25, x = 2 mm = 0. 2 cm hence

determine m, from which find HVL.
 mx
I out = I ine
 Fig. below shows
 A graph of attenuation of a monochromatic x-ray beam as they
pass through an attenuator thickness, where

 We see that the no. penetrating reduces.

 A plot of no. remaining as a function of attenuator thickness
 Yields straight line on semi-log graph as shown below
Fraction .1
(also fraction of
energy) .01
Remaining or
Transmitted
.001
1 2 3 4 5
Attenuator Thickness
Polychromatic Radiation
 X-Ray beam contains spectrum of photon energies
 Highest energy = peak kilovoltage (kVp) applied to tube and
 The mean energy is usually between 1/3 - 1/2 of peak, but
o Depends also on filtration

X-Ray Beam Attenuation
 The reduction in x-ray beam intensity is caused by Lower Higher
Energy Energy
 absorption (photoelectric)
 deflection (scattering)
 Attenuation alters beam
 quantity
 quality
o higher fraction of low energy photons removed (see fig.)
and results
o Beam Hardening

Half Value Layer (HVL)
 HVL
 Is defined as absorber thickness that reduces beam intensity by
exactly a half, and

 Has units of thickness and
 Is the value of “x” which makes N equal to No / 2
N = No e -mx HVL=0.693/m

Half Value Layer (HVL)
 Valid concept for all beam types
 Mono-energetic, and
 Poly-energetic.
 HVL
 Indicates the beam quality, where
o Higher value means more penetrating beam and
o Lower attenuation coefficient.

Factors Affecting Attenuation
 Attenuation
 Depends on both x-ray beam and matter (body tissue), where
 Energy of radiation or beam quality – higher energy means
more penetration and hence less attenuation.

 Body tissue -
o Density ()
o atomic number (Z)
o electrons per gram (e/g)
o Where higher density, atomic number, or electrons per gram increases
attenuation.
Polychromatic Attenuation
 A plot of penetrating beam
 Yields curved line on semi-log graph as shown below;
 The line straightens with increasing attenuation, but
 The slope approaches that of monochromatic beam at the peak
energy (see figure).
 The mean energy increases with attenuation
 beam hardening
1
Fraction .1
Transmitted Polychromatic
.01
Monochromatic
.001

Attenuator Thickness
Photoelectric vs. Compton
 Fractional contribution of each is determined
by
The photon energy and
The atomic number of absorber.
 The Equation describing attenuation w.r.t to each
interactions is:
m = mcoherent + mPE + mCompton
Small

 As photon energy m = mcoherent + mPE + mCompton

increases
 Both PE & Compton
decrease, but Interaction
 PE decreases faster Probability
o Fraction of m that is
Compton increases
o Fraction of m that is PE
Compton
decreases
Photoelectric
28 RIB 810, 811, 812 Imaging Physics Photon Energy 8/21/2019

m = mcoherent + mPE + mCompton
 As atomic # increases
 Fraction of m that is PE increases and
 Fraction of m that is Compton decreases

Interaction Probability
Atomic
Number of
Absorber
Photoelectric
Pair
Production
Compton
Photon Energy
• PE dominates for very low energies

Atomic
Number of
Absorber Pair
Photoelectric Production
Compton
Photon Energy
• For lower atomic numbers

– Compton dominates for high energies
Atomic Photoelectric
Number of
Absorber Pair
Production
Compton
Photon Energy
• For high atomic # absorbers
– PE dominates throughout diagnostic energy range
Attenuation & Density
 Attenuation proportional to density, hence
 The difference in tissue densities accounts for much of optical
density (OD) difference seen in radiographs (x-ray films)
 # of Compton interactions depends on electrons/unit path,
which in turn depends on:

 Electrons per gram and
 Density

Relationships
 Density generally
 Increases with atomic # and
 Different states have got different density, e.g.
 The 3-states of water (ice, water, steam) have got different densities
 Note that
 There is no relationship between density and electrons per gram and
 Atomic # vs. electrons / gram
o hydrogen ~ 2X electrons / gram as most other substances and
o as atomic # increases, electrons / gram decreases slightly

Applications
 As photon energy increases
 Subject (and image) contrast decreases
 differential absorption decreases

100
90
o at 20 keV bone’s linear attenuation 80
70
60
coefficient 6 X water’s 50 Bone
40 Water
30
o at 100 keV bone’s linear attenuation 20
10
coefficient 1.4 X water’s 0
20 keV 100 ke

Applications Photo-
electric Pair
Production
Compton
 At low x-ray energies

 attenuation differences between bone & soft tissue primarily caused
by photoelectric effect
o related to atomic number & density
 At high x-ray energies

 attenuation differences between bone & soft tissue primarily caused
by Compton scatter
o related entirely to density

Applications
 Difference between water & fat only visible at low energies
 effective atomic # of water slightly higher
o yields photoelectric difference
 electrons / cm almost equal
o No Compton difference
 Photoelectric dominates at low energy

K-Edge
 Each electron shell has threshold for PE effect
 Photon energy must be >= binding energy of electron shell
 For photon energy > K-shell binding energy
 k-shell electrons are candidates for PE
 PE interactions increase as photon energy exceeds k-shell
binding energy

K-Edge
 step increase in attenuation at K-edge energy
 K-shell electrons become available for interaction
 exception to rule of decreasing attenuation with increasing
energy
Linear
Attenuation K-edge
Coefficient
Energy

K-Edge Significance
 K-edge energy
 insignificantly low for low Z materials and
 Is in diagnostic range for high Z materials
 higher attenuation above k-edge useful in

 contrast agents
 rare earth screens
 Mammography beam filters

Scatter Radiation
 NO Socially Redeeming Qualities
 no useful information on image
 detracts from film quality
 exposes personnel, public
 represents 50-90% of photons exiting patient

Abdominal Photons
 ~1% of incident photons on adult abdomen reach film
 fate of the other 99%
 mostly scatter
o most do not reach film
 absorption

Scatter Factors
 Factors affecting scatter
 field size
 thickness of body part
 kVp
An increase in any of above increases scatter.

Scatter & Field Size
 Reducing field size causes significant reduction in scatter
radiation
II II
Tube Tube
X-Ray X-Ray
Tube Tube

Field Size & Scatter
 Field Size & thickness determine volume of irradiated
tissue
 Scatter increase with increasing field size
 initially large increase in scatter with increasing field size
 saturation reached (at ~ 12 X 12 inch field)
 further field size increase does not increase scatter reaching film
 scatter shielded within patient

Thickness & Scatter
 Increasing patient thickness
 Leads to increased scatter, but
 Saturation point reached, where
 Scatter photons produced far from film and
 shielded within body

kVp & Scatter
 kVp has less effect on scatter than
 field size
 thickness
 Increasing kVp
 increases scatter
 more photons scatter in forward direction

Scatter Management
 Reduce scatter by minimizing
 field size
o within limits of exam
 thickness
o mammography compression
 kVp
o low kVp increases patient dose
o in practice we maximize kVp

Scatter Control Techniques: Grid
 Scatter is controlled by using grid
 directional filter for photons
 Increases patient dose

Angle of Escape
 angle over which scattered radiation misses primary
field
 escape angle larger for
 small fields
Larger Angle of Escape
 larger distances from film
X
X
Film
Film
Scatter Control Techniques: Air Gap
 Gap intentionally
 left between patient & image
receptor
 Natural result
 of magnification radiography
 Grid not used

Lecture 7 Attenuation of X-Rays

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Resident Physics Lectures

 Know the characteristics of x-ray beams;

 Understand monochromatic and polychromatic x-ray beams;

 Define linear and mass attenuation coefficients;

 Define Half Value Layer (HVL) and

 Calculate various aspects of attenuation of x-rays when passing

 Is defined as the gradual loss in intensity of any kind of

energy flux when it travels thro’ a medium,

x-rays are attenuated by lead or human body etc, and

exiting radiation is less than that of incident radiation.

3 RIB 810, 811, 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 The amount of attenuation increases as the X-ray beam passes

thro’ longer paths in the pt.’s body and

the tissue removes an X-ray photon from the beam, which

4 RIB 810, 811, 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

1 @ 27 keV, 2 @ 32 Energy Spectrum

for amount of ionizing

8 RIB 810, 811, 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 Can be measured in terms of # of ions created in air by

9 RIB 810, 811, 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 Are produced by radioisotope but not x-ray beam and

 All photons in a beam have same energy.

 Change in beam quantity but

 No change in beam quality, that is

 The # of photons & total energy of beam changes by

10 RIB 810, 811, 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

photons remaining in the beam), decreases as the

 This loss of photons

 Is called attenuation, and

 The matter through which the beam passes is Concept of

11 RIB 810, 811, 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 Is a parameter indicating the fraction of radiation attenuated by

a given absorber thickness, and

Is a function of:

12 RIB 810, 811, 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

13 RIB 810, 811, 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 distance expressed in linear dimension “x”

N = number of incident photons

m = linear attenuation coefficient (1/cm); property of

14 RIB 810, 811, 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 Reciprocal of absorber thickness that reduces beam intensity by e (~2.718…)

o 37% of original intensity remaining

 As photon beam energy increases

o linear attenuation coefficient decreases

 Note: Same equation as used for radioactive decay

 Is defined as linear attenuation coefficient divided by density

o i.e. normalized with density

 It expresses attenuation of a material regardless (independent)

 Most references often give mass attenuation coefficient but

 The linear attenuation coefficient is be more useful in radiology.

 linear o = is density of tissue

o i.e. linear attenuation

 A 2 mm thickness of tissue transmits 25 % of monochromatic

beam of radiation. Calculate the HVL of the beam.

 Start with attenuation equation and substitute the known

values, i.e. Iout/Iin = 25% = 0.25, x = 2 mm = 0. 2 cm hence

 A graph of attenuation of a monochromatic x-ray beam as they

pass through an attenuator thickness, where

19 RIB 810, 811, 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 Yields straight line on semi-log graph as shown below

 Highest energy = peak kilovoltage (kVp) applied to tube and

 The mean energy is usually between 1/3 - 1/2 of peak, but