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Interactions of Ionizing Radiation

By:
Dr Muhammad Naeem Anjum
Associate Professor
Ionization:
• Ionization is the process by which a neutral atom acquires a positive or a
negative charge.
• Ionizing radiations can strip electrons from atoms as they travel through
media. An atom from which electron has been removed is a positive ion.
• In some cases, the stripped electron may sub-sequently combine with a
neutral atom to form a negative ion.
• The combination of a positively charged ion and a negatively charged
ion (usually a free electron) is called an ion pair.
• If, on the other hand, the energy lost by the incident particle is not
sufficient to eject an electron from the atom but is used to raise the
electrons to higher-energy levels, the process is termed excitation.
Radiation:

• The propagation of energy from a radiative


source to another medium is termed radia-
tion.
• The energy of the radiation decreases as it
passes through a material, due to absorption
and scattering, and this decrease in energy is
negatively correlated with the square of the
distance traveled through the material.
Types of Radiations (w.r.t ionization):

1. Nonionizing Radiations (E<12 eV):


• Radio waves
• Microwaves
• Infrared light
• Visible light
• Ultraviolet light

2. Ionizing Radiations(E ≥12 eV )


Types of Ionizing Radiations :
(w.r.t nature)
Energy range and corresponding categories of X-rays
Types of Ionizing Radiations :
1. Directly ionizing radiation consists of charged particles.
Such particles include energetic electrons, positrons,
protons, alpha particles, charged mesons, muons and
heavy ions. This type of ionizing radiation interacts with
matter primarily through the Coulomb force, repelling
or attracting electrons from atoms and molecules by
virtue of their charges.
2. Indirectly ionizing radiation consists of uncharged
particles. The most common kinds of indirectly ionizing
radiation are photons and gamma rays and all neutrons.
Interaction of Radiation with Matter /Human
Body
Interaction of Radiation with Matter (Cont.)
THE WAYS IN WHICH PHOTONS
MAY INTERACT WITH MATTER:
• Photoelectric Effect
• Compton Effect (Incoherent
Scattering)
• Pair Production
• Triplet Production
• Raleigh and Thomson Scattering
(Coherent Scattering)
• Photodisintegration
Photoelectric Effect:
This phenomenon, which was theorized by Albert Einstein in 1905, was actually first observed

by Heinrich Rudolf Hertz in 1887, and was therefore also known as the Hertz effect. To define it

simply, when any electromagnetic radiation reaches a surface (generally a metallic surface), it

transfers its energy to the electrons of that surface, which are then scattered. At the atomic

level, the incoming radiation knocks an electron from an inner atomic orbital, propelling it from

the atom
Photoelectric Effect:
This is the basic interaction in diagnostic radiology.
It is dominant at energies of less than 35 kV, and in
atoms with high atomic numbers (Z).
Since the atomic number of bone is higher than that of
soft tissue, bone absorbs more radiation than soft tissue.
This absorption difference is the basis of diagnostic
radiology.
This effect also explains why metals with high atomic
numbers (e.g., lead) are used to absorb low-energy X-
rays and gamma rays.
The probability of the photoelectric effect occuring is
inversely propotional to (E3) and proportional to (Z3).
Compton Effect/Incoherent Scattering:

Compton effect occurs when photons

interact with free or weakly bound

electrons in the γ-ray incident beam.

In this incoherent scattering, all

atomic electrons act independently of

one another
Compton Effect/Incoherent Scattering:
 This is the main mechanism for the absorption of ionizing radiation in
radiotherapy.
 It is the dominant effect across a wide spectrum of energies, such as
35 kV–50 MV.
 It has no dependency on the atomic number (Z) of the absorbent
material, but it does depend on the electron density of the material.
 The absorption of incoming radiation is the same for bone and soft
tissues.
 Importantly, incoherent scattering is not directly related to atomic
number but rather the concentration of electrons in tissue.
 As atomic number rises, the density of electrons falls slowly, so
incoherent scattering becomes slightly less likely in high Z materials.
 Incoherent scattering also decreases with energy.
Pair Production Or Materialization of Energy:
Continue

Pair Production Or Materialization of Energy:

 This is a relatively rare effect. In it, a photon transforms


into an electron and a positron near a nucleus.
 The threshold photon energy level for pair production is
1.02 MeV; below this, pair production will not occur.
 The probability of pair production occurring increases as
Z increases.
 Pair production is more frequently observed than the
Compton effect at energies of more than 10 MeV.
Continue

Pair Production Or Materialization of Energy:


 The probability of occurring pair production “k” varies with the
charge number Z of the material as follows.
Kα Z2
 Thus, high-Z materials like lead are more favorable for pair
production to take place.
 The electron and positron pair do not exist free for long time and
recombine through a process called annihilation of matter.
 In the annihilation process, the electron and positron combine with
each other, disappear, and give rise to two γ-ray photons each with
an energy of 0.511 MeV.
 The two photons move in opposite directions to conserve
momentum.
Triplet Production:
Continue
Triplet Production:
• Coherent scattering is more probably as Z increases and as E decreases.
• This makes it of some concern in diagnostic x-ray, where it can cause loss of contrast
and blurring.
• For radiotherapy it has minimal impact on attenuation.
Or Photodisintegration Reaction (x,p) or (x,n)
Auger Effect:
• The Auger effect is a physical phenomenon in which the
filling of an inner-shell vacancy of an atom is
accompanied by the emission of an electron from the
same atom.
• When a core electron is removed, leaving a vacancy, an
electron from a higher energy level may fall into the
vacancy, resulting in a release of energy.
• Although most often this energy is released in the form
of an emitted photon, the energy can also be transferred
to another electron, which is ejected from the atom; this
second ejected electron is called an Auger electron.
Attenuation:

When radiations pass through any material, a


reduction in the beam intensity occurs. This is called
attenuation. Attenuation is the reduction in
amplitude and intensity of a signal.
Half-Value Layer or Half-Value
Thickness:
It is the thickness of the material at which the intensity
of radiation entering it is reduced by one half. HVL can
also be expressed in terms of air kerma rate (AKR),
rather than intensity.
Approximate half-value layers for a variety of materials
against a source of gamma rays (Iridium-192):
Concrete: 44.5 mm
Steel: 12.7 mm
Lead: 4.8 mm
Tungsten: 3.3 mm
Uranium: 2.8 mm
THE LINEAR ATTENUATION COEFFICIENT
(µ):
• The linear attenuation coefficient (µ) describes
the fraction of a beam of x-rays or gamma rays
that is absorbed or scattered per unit thickness
of the absorber.
• (µ) accounts for the number of atoms in a cubic
cm volume of material and the probability of a
photon being scattered or absorbed from the
nucleus or an electron of one of these atoms.
Mass ATTENUATION COEFFICIENT:
 The mass attenuation coefficient, mass exctinction
coefficient, or mass narrow beam attenuation
coefficient of the volume of a material characterizes
how easily it can be penetrated by a beam of light,
sound, particles, or other energy or matter.
 To obtain the mass attenuation coefficient, the linear
attenuation coefficient, μ, is divided by density, ρ.
 It has units of cm2/g.
Beam Hardening

• Beam hardening is the phenomenon occurring


when an x-ray beam comprised of polychromatic
energies passes through an object, resulting in
selective attenuation of lower energy photons.
• The effect is conceptually similar to a high-pass
filter, in that only higher energy photons are left to
contribute to the beam and thus mean beam energy
is increased. This is referred to as beam hardening.
Mean Free Path

• The mean free path, or relaxation length, is


the quantity
Xm = 1⁄μ
• This is the average distance a single particle
travels through a given attenuating medium
before interacting.
Interactions of Neutrons with Matter

• Neutrons, by virtue of their neutrality, are


indirectly ionizing radiation and depositing
energy in the absorber through a two-step
process:
• (1) energy transfer to heavy charged particles
• (2) energy deposition in the absorber through
Coulomb interactions of these charged
particles with atoms of the absorber.
• As they penetrate into matter, neutrons may
undergo elastic and inelastic scattering as well
as trigger nuclear reactions, such as neutron
capture, spallation, and fission.
• Two distinct categories of neutrons are of
direct importance in medical physics: thermal
neutrons used in boron-neutron capture
therapy (BNCT) and fast neutrons used in
external beam radiotherapy.
General Aspects of Neutron Interactions with Absorbers

• Neutrons, similarly to photons, may penetrate


an absorber without interacting or they may
undergo various interactions with the
absorber.
• In contrast to photons, however, neutrons
interact mostly with the nuclei of the absorber
and have only minor interactions with orbital
electrons of the absorber.
Classification of Neutrons
In terms of their kinetic energy EK, neutrons are classified into several
categories:
• 1. Ultracold neutrons with EK < 2×10−7 eV
• 2. Very cold neutrons with 2×10−7 eV ≤ EK ≤ 5×10−5 eV. Cold neutrons
with 5×10−5 eV ≤ EK ≤ 0.025 eV
• 4. Thermal neutrons with EK ≈ 0.025 eV
• 5. Epithermal neutrons with 1 eV < EK < 1 keV
• 6. Intermediate neutrons with 1 keV < EK < 0.1 MeV
• 7. Fast neutrons with EK > 0.1 MeV.
Of the seven categories listed above, only thermal, epithermal, and fast
neutrons are used in medicine and are thus of interest in medical
physics.
Neutron Interactions with Nuclei of the Absorber

There are five principal processes by which neutrons interact


with the nuclei of the absorber:
1. Elastic scattering
2. Inelastic scattering
3. Neutron capture
4. Nuclear spallation
5. Nuclear fission
• The probability (cross section) for these different types of
interactions varies with the kinetic energy of the neutron and
with the physical properties of the nuclei of the absorber.
1. Elastic Scattering:
In elastic scattering a neutron collides with a
nucleus of mass M that recoils with an angle with
respect to the neutron initial direction of motion.
2. Inelastic Scattering:
In inelastic scattering the neutron n is first
captured by the nucleus and then re-emitted as
neutron n′ with a lower energy and in a direction
that is different from the incident neutron
direction. The nucleus is left in an excited state
and will de-excite by emitting high-energy rays.
3. Neutron Capture: Unlike inelastic scattering reactions,
colliding neutrons are absorbed by atomic nuclei in neutron
capture reactions. Consequently, each nucleus becomes an
isotope with a mass number that is one greater.
• In most elements, the binding energy of nuclear particles
is about 8 MeV. The formed nuclei enter an excited state
of about that level of energy, which then decays upon
emitting gamma rays according to the excitation level.
• Often neutron bombardment of a stable target is carried
out in a nuclear reactor with the intent of producing a
radioactive nuclide (radionuclide) for industrial or medical
purposes.

4. Spallation:
• Spallation is in general defined as fragmentation of
a target into many smaller components as a result
of impact or stress. Consequently, nuclear
spallation is defined as disintegration of a target
nucleus into many small residual components such
as particles and nucleons (protons and neutrons)
upon bombardment with a suitable projectile such
as light or heavy ion beams or neutrons.
• Nuclear spallation can also occur naturally in
earth’s atmosphere as a result of exposure of
nuclides to energetic cosmic rays such as protons.
5. Nuclear Fission Induced by Neutron Bombardment:
• Fission is a particular type of neutron
interaction produced by bombardment of
certain very high atomic number nuclei (Z ≥
92) by thermal or fast neutrons.
• The target nucleus fragments into two
daughter nuclei of lighter mass and the fission
process is accompanied with production of
several fast neutrons.
Interactions of Charged Particles
(electrons, protons, α-particles, and nuclei)

• Charged particles interact principally by


ionization and excitation.
• Radiative collisions in which the charged
particle interacts by the bremsstrahlung
process are possible but are much more likely
for electrons than for heavier charged
particles.
• The charged particle interactions or collisions are
mediated by Coulomb force between the electric
field of the traveling particle and electric fields of
orbital electrons and nuclei of atoms of the material.
• Collisions between the particle and the atomic
electrons result in ionization and excitation of the
atoms.
• Collisions between the particle and the nucleus
result in radiative loss of energy or bremsstrahlung.
• In addition to the Coulomb force interactions,
heavy charged particles give rise to nuclear
reactions, thereby producing radioactive
nuclides.
• For example, a proton beam passing through
tissue produces short-lived radioisotopes 11C,
13N, and 15O, which are positron emitters.
• Stopping power:The rate of kinetic energy loss
per unit path length of the particle (dE/dx) is
known as the stopping power (S).
• Mass Stopping Power: The quantity S/ρ is
called the mass stopping power, where ρ is the
density of the medium and is usually
expressed in MeV cm2/g.
Factors Affecting Energy Loss
• Proportional to the square of the particle
charge and inversely proportional to the
square of its velocity.
• As the particle slows down, its rate of energy
loss increases and so does the ionization or
absorbed dose to the medium.
Bragg peak:
• The dose deposited in water increases at first
very slowly with depth and then very sharply
near the end of the range, before dropping to
an almost zero value. This peaking of dose
near the end of the particle range is called the
Bragg peak.
Benefit of Bragg peak Effect:
• It has a great benefit in Radiotherapy to
provide maximum dose to tumor and
minimum dose to surrounding tissues.

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