Chapter 4

Production and Interactions of

Radiation

1
 Contents
 Radiation production
 Factors affecting x-ray beam quality and
quantity
Interaction of radiation with matter
Inverse square law

2
Objectives
To get an idea of where x-rays come from, how they
occur, what effect they have on the image/the
patient, and what controls you have over this process
Describe types of x-ray production
Describe the factors that affect x-ray beam quality
and quantity
Describe the basic interactions of x-rays with matter
Define the term attenuation, HVL, and intensity

3
 Basics of Atomic structure
The nucleus is the source of radioactive emission
utilized in Nuclear medicine and molecular imaging
It is also the source of nuclear magnetic resonance
utilized in MRI

But, Diagnostic radiography is based on changes made

on the orbiting electrons

4
Electron Binding
Q. What prevents electrons from flying out of their
orbit and creating chaos/disorder?
- Their BE measured in KeV(kilo-electron volts)
 The closer the electron is to the nucleus, the stronger its
BE
 Therefore, the K-shell will have the strongest BE
 Also, the higher the atomic number, the higher the K-
shell BE

5
• Excitation
 If an atom in ground state absorbs energy
(e.g., by colliding with another particle, or absorbing E.M.R) one of its
electrons may be shifted into one of the higher energy levels.
 The atom will be unstable and is in an excited state.
 But soon will fall back to its former energy level and return to ground state
releasing absorbed energy (excess energy) in a form of electromagnetic
radiation.
 Atoms usually stay for less than 1 ms in their excited states.

• Ionization
 An atom absorbs sufficient energy to raise an electron to n = 
level and will be completely free from the atom.
 An atom which has lost an electron will be ionized.

MinimumForms
energy of EMR
needed radiations
to completely ionizelike
gamma rays are capable of ionizing atoms,
ground state is 13.6 eV
x-raysatom
the hydrogen andin its

and are called (ionizing) radiations.

6
 A. Types of X-Ray production
(Two distinct processes)
1. Characteristic X Rays:
 Electron-Electron interaction

2. Bremsstrahlung production
 Electron-Nucleus interaction

7
1.Characterstic x-rays;
The incoming
electron knocks out
an inner shell
atomic electron
2

An electron from a

higher shell fills the
vacancy and the energy
difference is emitted as
an X Ray of an energy
characteristic for the
transition 8
Cont…
The incident electron collides with a K-shell
electron, exciting or ionizing the atom, leaving a
hole in that shell.{also possible for other shells}
– As the atom returns to its ground state, the k-
shell hole is filled by a higher shell electron
– The loss of energy creates an EM photon, known
as Characteristic x-ray
– The energy of the x-ray photon = difference
between the binding energy of the two shells
(element dependent)

9
 Characteristic Radiation

incident
electron vacancy electron x-ray
created transition emitted
Atom characteristics

A, Z and associated quantities

• Hydrogen A=1 Z=1 EK= 13.6 eV

• Carbon A = 12 Z = 6 EK= 283 eV
• Molybdenum A = 96 Z = 42 EK= 19.0
keV
• Tungsten A = 183 Z = 74 EK= 69.5
keV
• Uranium A = 238 Z = 92 EK= 115.6
keV 11
Characteristic radiation
Consists only of discrete x-ray energies
corresponding to energy difference b/n
electron shells of target
Specific energies are characteristic of target
material
- e.g. for tungsten 59Kev corresponds to the energy
deference b/n K&L shells
Threshold energy required for incident electron =
BE of electron
K-lines are formed by quantum jumps to the k-shell

12
2.Bremsstrahlung/breaking radiation/
 Occurs due to interaction of moving
electrons with nucleus of target atoms
 Positive nucleus causes moving electron to
change speed/direction(due to coulomb’s
forces)
The energy difference is emitted as an x-ray

13
Cont…
 With materials of high atomic number the
energy loss is higher
 The energy loss by Bremsstrahlung
 > 99% of kinetic E loss as heat
production
 it increases with increasing electron BE
X Rays are dominantly produced by
Bremsstrahlung

14
Cont…
The higher the atomic number of the X
Ray target, the higher the yield (due to the
resulting large coulomb’s force)
The higher the incident electron energy,
the higher the probability of X Ray
production
Energy lost by moving electron is random
and depends on:
o the distance from the nucleus
o charge(Z)of the nucleus
15
The resulting X Ray spectrum

INTENSITY

Unfiltered radiation (in vacuum)

Characteristic
X Rays

Bremsstrahlung

Spectrum after
filtration

Maximum photon energy

20 40 60 80 100 120

PHOTON ENERGY (keV)

16
Bremsstrhlung Energy spectrum

Most x-ray photons low energy

Lowest energy photons don’t escape tube
- easily filtered (by tube enclosures/added filter)
Large x-ray for closer electrons (k-lines for
strong x-rays)
 Photon energy= E1-E2
I α ZE2

17
Cont…
The energy of Bremstrahlung radiation is
expressed in Kev and lies some where b/n zero
and maximum value
Bremstrahlung radiation is a continuous
spectrum
The intensity of low energy photons is decreased
b/c of absorption of these photons by target
material
To produce the k characteristic lines at a target,
electrons must have an energy >59Kev and to
produce L-lines electrons must have an energy
>11KeV
18
Beam Quality and Quantity
The quality of beam of x-rays is a measure
of its penetrating power

Intensity (quantity)of the beam is the

amount of energy measured at right angles
to the direction of the beam passing
through unit area per unit time

19
 TUBE CURRENT(mA)
Factors affecting X- ray spectrum
(beam quality and quantity)

 TUBE POTENTIAL(KVp)
 FILTRATION(mmAl)
 Z OF TARGET MATERIAL
 TYPE OF WAVEFORM

20
1. mA (tube current)

 Intensity α tube current

 mA selected affects the quantity of
the
x-ray beam
 Does not affect the quality of the beam
 Increase in mA increases the quantity
of radiation from the target

21
Cont…
Change of QUANTITY
NO change of quality

Effective kV not changed

22
2.Tube potential (KVp)

 Change in QUANTITY
- I α KVp2

&
 Change in QUALITY
- spectrum shifts to higher Energy
- characteristic lines appear

23
3. Filtration

Change in QUANTITY
&
Change in QUALITY
spectrum shifts to higher energy

1- Spectrum out of anode

2- After window tube housing
(INHERENT filtration)
3- After ADDITIONAL filtration

24
4. Target Z
Number of photons increases due to large
Z
Decrease in Z reduction in quantity of
radiation
But, no change in quality of Bremstrhlung
radiation

25
5. Wave form (rectification)

26
 Factors affecting
X Ray Quantity X Ray Quality
TUBE CURRENT (mA) TUBE POTENTIAL
EXPOSURE TIME (s) (kVp)
TUBE POTENTIAL (kVp) FILTRATION
WAVEFORM WAVE FORM
DISTANCE (FSD)
FILTRATION

27
.

28
2. X-rays Interaction
 When traversing matter, photons will
penetrate, scatter, or be absorbed.

5 Basic interactions
1. Coherent scattering
2. Pair production
3. Photo disintegration
4. Photoelectric effect
5. Compton scattering

29
Cont…
The three of which play a role in diagnostic radiology
and nuclear medicine are:
(a) Coherent/Rayleigh scattering,
(b) Compton scattering,
(c) photoelectric absorption,

30
 1. Coherent Scattering
Also referred to as "classical" scattering

The incident photon interacts with and excites

the total atom,

The electric field of the incident photon's

electromagnetic wave expends energy, causing all
of the electrons in the scattering atom to oscillate
in phase.

31
During Coherent scattering:
Change in direction
No change in energy, frequency, wavelength
No ionization
Contribute to scatter as a film fog
Less than 5% of interactions
Insignificant effect on image quality
compared to other types of interactions

32
Cont…
In soft tissue, Rayleigh scattering
accounts for less than 5% of x-ray
interactions above 70 kev

at most only accounts for 12% of

interactions at approximately 30 keV.

33
Coherent scattering

• Change in x-ray direction with no ionization

• Occurs at energies <10 keV

34
2.Pair production
High energy photons interact with electric
field of the nucleus
The photon's energy is transformed into an
electron-positron pair(matter)
Photon disappears electron and positron
created
Energy in excess of 1.02MeV is required
produce (electron + positron) pair as KE

35
Cont…
The electron and positron lose their
kinetic energy via excitation and ionization

When the positron comes to rest, it

interacts with a negatively charged
electron, resulting in the formation of two
oppositely directed 0.511 MeV annihilation
photons

36
Pair Production process
 Occurs with high energy x-ray(1.02MeV)

0.511MeV positron

0.511MeV electron 37
38
 Cont…
To produce pair production effect, at least 1.02
MeV of energy will be required which equals the
energy of the masses of both the electron and
positron together.
Positron cannot remain in nature, and soon
combines with a normal electron and change back
into radiation energy called annihilation radiation
which appears in the form of two 0.51 MeV
photons.

Pair production never occurs in diagnostic

radiography{Threshold is above diagnostic
energies}
39
3. Photodisintegration
 Photon causes ejection of part of atomic nucleus
 Nucleus is broken in to very high energy
neutron, proton, or alpha particle.
 Because of the very high energy requirement,
never occur in diagnostic radiography
 Ejected particle may be N, p. α, particle cluster
 Threshold photon energy for occurrence
- nuclear BE typically (7-15Mev)
- threshold is above diagnostic energies
- does not occur in diagnostic radiology
40
Photonuclear Disintegration

 Only occurs with very high energy x-ray (> 10

MeV)

Nuclear
fragment

41
4.The Photoelectric Effect
Photon interacts with bound (inner) electrons
 Ionization (electron liberated)
 all of the incident photon energy is
transferred to an electron
Incident photon energy > BE of electrons
Electrons in higher energy shells cascade
down to fill energy void of inner shell
- characteristic radiation

42
Photoelectric effect
• X-ray transfers energy to an inner shell electron which is then ejected.
• Filling the inner shell electron results in a characteristic x-ray.
• Characteristic x-rays from nitrogen, carbon and oxygen have very low
energies.
• The final result is absorption of the x-ray (i.e. there is no exit radiation)

X-ray

Photoelectron

43
PE…
The probability of characteristic x-ray emission
decreases as the atomic number of the absorber
decreases and;
Thus does not occur frequently for diagnostic
energy photon Interactions in soft tissue.
PE absorption results in the production of
- Photo electron
- Ionized atom(+)
- Characterstics x-ray

44
Q. Which shells are candidates for PE interaction
BE(K,L,M) Photon Ans
energy

50
K=100, 15
L=50,
M=20 25
55
105 PE- (Z/E)3
45
Example 2
1.The K & L-shell electron BE of iodine
are 34 & and 5KeV, respectively. If a
100KeV photon is absorbed by a k-
shell electron during the interaction.
a. Calculate the KE of the photo
electron ejected from k-shell
b. An x-ray with energy__ will be given
off as electrons cascade L-K

46
 Factors influencing PE effect
1. Photon energy(>BE)
- Probability of interaction decreases as photon
energy increases(1/E3)
- Is main effect at lower energies
2. Target Atomic number (Z)
- Probability of interaction increases with Z3

- High Z materials are strong absorbers of x-rays

47
PE - probability occurrence per unit mass
Interaction much more likely for
low energy photons
high atomic number elements

1
P.E. ~ ----------- P.E. ~ Z3
energy3

48
Example 3
Q1. Compare the PE interaction probability in Iodine
[Z=53]with that of Calcium[z= 20] at a particular
energy of photon.
Q2. If the BE for sodium is 2.28eV and the energy of
the x-ray is 4.14eV. What is the KE of the photo
electron?
Q3. If the KE of the photoelectron is 1eV and the
frequency of the x-ray is 7x1014Hz, What is the BE of
Cesium?
(h=4.136X10-15eV)

49
Importance of PE interaction
 Provides subject contrast
- variation in x-ray absorption for various substances
 Does not contribute to scatter that degrade
the image due to non primary radiations
Disadvantage;
 PE interactions deposit most beam energy
that ends up in tissue (increased pt dose)
- Always use highest KVp technique consistent with
imaging contrast requirements

50
PE…
 Why image contrast decreases when higher x-ray
energies are used in the imaging process?
b/c the probability of photoelectric interaction is
proportional to 1/E3
 If the photon energy is doubled the probability of PE
interaction decreases by _____ fold.
At photon energies below 50 keV the photoelectric
effect plays an important role in imaging soft tissue.
The PE absorption process can be used to amplify
differences in attenuation between tissues with slightly
different atomic numbers, thereby improving image
contrast.

51
5. Compton Scattering
is scattering of a photon by a charged particle,
usually electron
is the predominant interaction of x-ray and gamma-
ray photons in the diagnostic energy range with soft
tissue.
Predominates in the diagnostic energy range above 26
keV in soft tissue, and continues to predominate well
beyond diagnostic energies to approximately 30 MeV.
Is most likely to occur between photons and outer
("valence") shell electrons

52
The Compton scatter process

53
• The incident x-ray is scattered by an outer shell electron which is also
ejected (Compton electron)
• The X-ray is scattered at an angle depending on amount of energy
transferred
• The energy of the incident x-ray is shared between the scattered x-ray
and the Compton electron
• The scattered X ray has lower energy and longer wavelength

Compton electron

54
Scatter Formula
Ϫλ= 0.024(1-cosϴ)
Where Ϫλ=is the change in wavelength
ϴ= photon deflection angle

2-1= h(1-cosϴ)/mc
- Photons having small deflections retain most incident energy,
so will
scatter many times, losing little energy each time.

55
Scatter formula

56
Cont…
In x-ray transmission imaging, these scattered
photons are much more likely to be detected by the
image receptor, thus reducing image contrast.
For a given scattering angle, the fraction of
energy transferred to the scattered photon
INCREASES with increasing incident photon
energy.
Thus, for higher energy incident photons, the
majority of the energy is transferred to the scattered
electron.
Ei=Es+(Eb+Eke)

57
Example
1.What is the energy the scattered x-ray under
compton scattering if it originally had 45keV and
the BE of the compton electron is 15keV and it KE is
5keV?
2. What was the energy of the original x-ray if the
scattered x-ray has energy of 19keV and the BE of of
the N shell tungsten electron is 0.6keV and the
compton electron has KE of 27.2keV?

58
Probability of occurrence of Compton scatter
 Proportional to electron density (electrons/gram)
 Electron density in soft tissue is fairly equal for all elements
except hydrogen
eρ= Na x Z/A
 Compared to other elements, the absence of
neutrons in the hydrogen atom results in an
approximate doubling of electron density.
 (Ϟ double; 3x1023)
Hydrogenous materials have a higher
probability of Compton scattering than a non
hydrogenous material of equal mass.
59
Probability of Compton scatter…

 Dependent on the number of electrons in the

target
 As atomic number of absorber increases, no effect on scatter
effect
 Substances containing a lot of hydrogen will cause greater scatter
(soft tissue and water)
 The probability of Compton scatter increases as energy (KVp)
increases in diagnostic energy range

- Probability of increase in Compton interaction more

pronounced than for PE effect at higher energies
60
61
 Photoelectric v/s Compton
m = mcoherent + mPE + mCompton
As photon
energy
increases
>150KVp Interaction
 Both PE & Compton Probability
decrease
 PE decreases faster

Compton

Photoelectric

62
Photon Energy
 Interaction Probability
Photoelectric
Atomic Pair
Number of Production
Absorber

Compton

Photon Energy

PE dominates for very low energies

63
 Interaction Probability
Photoelectric
Atomic Pair
Number of Production
Absorber

Compton

Photon Energy

• For lower atomic numbers

– Compton dominates for high energies 64
 Interaction Probability
Photoelectric
Atomic Pair
Number of Production
Absorber

Compton

Photon Energy

• For high Z absorbers

– PE dominates throughout diagnostic energy range
65
 Medical Application of the PE effect
 The photoelectric effect is responsible for most x-ray attenuation in tissue
 Photoelectric attenuation increases with increasing atomic number.
 Bone absorbs 4x the x-ray than tissue at lower x-ray energies
 Photoelectric attenuation also decreases with increasing energy of the x-ray
 Above 26 keV Compton Scattering becomes more dominant

100%
Relative importance

Compton
50%

Photoelectric

X-ray Energy
25keV 50keV
66
Relationships
Density generally increases with
atomic # (Z)
different states = different density
 ice, water, steam

No relationship between density and

electrons per gram

As atomic # increases, electrons / gram

decreases slightly?

67
 Intensity of Radiation
Definition
The intensity of a beam of electromagnetic radiation at
a point is the total energy per second flowing past that
point when normalized to a unit area.
Inverse Square law
The intensity of the radiation emitted from a
small isotopic source (emits radiation in all
directions )is inversely proportional to the square
of the distance from the source, provided there is
negligible absorption or scattering of the
radiation by the medium through which it passes.
68
Cont…

Stated mathematically, this is:

2
I1 d2
 2
I2 d1

69
 EXAMPLES
1. The absorbed dose rate in air at a distance of 60
cm from the focal spot of an x-ray tube is 0.5 mGys
1

(do not worry about the unit, as this does not affect
the calculation!). What is the absorbed dose rate at
75 cm from the focus?
,

I1
2
I1 d 2 0.5mGy/s
1
s
 2 Where =

I 2 d1
d1  60 cm and d2 = 75 cm.

I2 is what we need to calculate.

70
Cont..
The equation can be rearranged thus:

2
I 1  d1
I2  2
d2
0.5  60
2
1
 mG.s
75 2

1
 0.32mGy.s

71
2. In the above example, at what distance
would the exposure rate be 2.0 mGys1 ?
2
I1 d2
 2
I2 d1

Where I 1  0.5mGy.s 1 , d1  60cm and I 2  2.0 mGys1 .This time d 2 is unknown.

We can arrange the

equation in terms of d2 thus:

72
 2
2 I 1  d1
d2 
I2

0.5  60 
2

2.0


60
2

4
(60) 2
d2  cm
4
= 30 cm

73
 ATTENUATION OF X-RAYS & GAMMA RAYS

Attenuation
is the removal/reduction of photons from a beam of x- or
gamma rays as it passes through matter

Caused by both absorption and scattering of the primary

photons
The attenuation of a mono-energetic parallel beam of
electromagnetic radiation by a uniform attenuator will vary
exponentially with the attenuator thickness.

74
Cont…

Figure Graph showing changes in transmitted intensity due to

exponential attenuation of radiation by a uniform attenuator

75
Linear attenuation coefficient(µ)
Is the fraction of photons removed from a mono
energetic beam of x- or gamma rays per unit thickness
of material
It is expressed in cm-1.

76
Cont…
Coherent/Rayleigh scattering occurs
in medical imaging with low
probability
Comprises about 10% of the
interactions in mammography and 5%
in chest radiography.

77
Cont…
In the diagnostic energy range, the linear
attenuation coefficient decreases with increasing
energy
The linear attenuation coefficient for soft tissue
ranges from ~0.35 to ~0.16 cm-1 for photon energies
ranging from 30 to 100 keV.

Thus, the linear attenuation coefficient is

proportional to the density of the material:

78
 Half Value Layer (HVL)
Penetrability of photons

HVL is the thickness of some standard material

required to reduce a beam of radiation to half its
original value.
HVL: thickness reducing beam intensity by 50%
Definition holds strictly for mono energetic beams
I/I0 = 1/2 = exp (-µ HVL) HVL = 0.693 / µ
HVL depends on material and photon energy

79
Cont…
The amount of material (usually Al) needed to reduce the

intensity of an x-ray beam by 50% is called half value

layer(HVL)
The HVL provides information about the quality

(penetrating ability) of the x-ray beam

It is also used to determine that the filtration placed in the

path of the beam is sufficient

Filters in the beam should be with in tolerance limit

80
Cont…
Too low filter will allow low energy x-ray to fall on the

patient increasing the dose with out any enhancement of

diagnostic information and;
Too hard x-ray reduces the contrast leading to loss of

details
The test is designed to confirm that the flirtations

installed at the x-ray tube(total) is kept at a suitable level

to help minimize exposure to the patient
81
82
 Q1. What is the HVL of the x-ray beam
with the following Exposure data @80kVp
100
100
90
90
80
80
70
70

(%)
Transmission(%)
60
60 Measured at 80 kV
mms Al µGy Transmission (%) peak

Transmission
50
50
0.0 3000 100.0
Added 0.5 2520 84.0 40
40
filters 1.0 2205 73.5 30
30
2.0 1755 58.5
20
20
3.0 1410 47.0
4.0 1155 38.5 10
10
5.0 930 31.0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Ion Thickness of
Thickness of Aluminium
Aluminium (mm)
(mm)
Chamber

83
EXAMPLE 2
 The HVT for a beam of radiation is found to be 2.8
mm of aluminum What is the total linear attenuation
coefficient of this beam in aluminum?

84
Example 3

85
Thank you!

86