Digital Radiography PSA Course

Radiography department [email protected]

Version：V 1.0 Description：X Ray Fundamentals

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 Glossary

Terms Description Synonyms Acronym

KVP Kilovolt Peak

MAs Milliampere per Second

SV Sievert

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 Contents
 Concept in Radiologic Physics
 History of x-ray imaging
 X-ray Features
 X-ray Physics
 X-ray safety introduction
 DR Composition and Theory
 Core components introduction

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 Sources OF Ionizing Radiation

 Cosmic
 Terrestrial
 Internal
 Medical X-rays
Ionization
 Nuclear Medicine
 Consumer Products
 Nuclear Power---industrial

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 Sources OF Ionizing Radiation
Natural Environmental Radiation Man Made Ionizing Radiation Sources

 Cosmic  Medical X-rays

 Terrestrial  Nuclear Medicine
 Internal  Consumer Products
 Nuclear Power-industrial

The Contribution Of Various Sources To The Average USA Population Radiation Dose
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 Cosmic Radiation

The earth’s atmosphere is bombarded by

high-energy particles from our galaxy
(primary cosmic radiation). In the upper
atmospheric layers, these particles react
with air molecules. As a result of nuclear
reactions, a great number of secondary
particles (secondary cosmic radiation) is
formed. Some of these secondary
particles decay again, are absorbed in the
atmosphere or possibly penetrate into
the earth.

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 Terrestrial Radiation – Radon is the Largest Source

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 Internal Radiation

In addition to the cosmic and terrestrial sources, all people also have
radioactive potassium-40, carbon-14, lead-210, and other isotopes inside
their bodies from birth. The variation in dose from one person to another is
not as great as the variation in dose from cosmic and terrestrial sources.

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 Man Made Ionizing Radiation Sources
 Tobacco
 Televisions
 Medical X-rays
 Smoke detectors
 Lantern mantles
 Nuclear medicine
 Building materials
 Nuclear power plants

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 Man Made Ionizing Radiation Sources
By far, the most significant source of man-made radiation exposure to the public is
from medical procedures, such as diagnostic X-rays, nuclear medicine, and radiation
therapy. Some of the major isotopes would be I-131, Tc-99m, Co-60, Ir-192, Cs-137,
and others.

In addition, members of the public are exposed to radiation from consumer products,
such as tobacco (thorium), building materials, combustible fuels (gas, coal, etc.),
ophthalmic glass, televisions, luminous watches and dials (tritium), airport X-ray
systems, smoke detectors (americium), road construction materials, electron tubes,
fluorescent lamp starters, lantern mantles (thorium), etc.

Of lesser magnitude, members of the public are exposed to radiation from the nuclear
fuel cycle, which includes the entire sequence from mining and milling of uranium to
the actual production of power at a nuclear plant. This would be uranium and its
daughter products.

The final sources of exposure to the public would be shipment of radioactive

materials and residual fallout from nuclear weapons testing and accidents, such as
Chernobyl.
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 Contents
 Concept in Radiologic Physics
 History of x-ray imaging
 X-ray Features
 X-ray Physics
 X-ray safety introduction
 DR Composition and Theory
 Core components introduction

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 Who Discovered the x-ray
Debate still persists as to who was the first to discover X-rays. Was it the
Ukrainian scientist Jan Puluj (Ivan Puliui) or a German physicist Wilhelm
Conrad Roentgen, the 1901 Nobel Prize winner?

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 Who Discovered the x-ray
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. While working with a Crookes tube, a plate of Barium Platino-
Cyanide (fluorescent crystals) on a table six feet away in his workroom glowed when he
activated the tube. Even after covering the tube with black cardboard it kept glowing. He
concluded that a new type of ray emitted from the tube, passed through the covering,
and casted shadows of solid objects. The rays passes through most substances, including
the soft tissues of the body, but left the bones and most metals visible. One of his
earliest photographic plate from his experiments was a film of his wife, Bertha's hand
with a ring, was produced on Friday, November 8, 1895

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 History of x-ray imaging
 Because this phenomenon can’t be explained at that time , so it is named as
X-ray
 In order commemorate Roentgen，X-ray is also named as Roentgen ray
 Roentgen discovered x-rays while experimenting with the Crookes tube.

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 History of x-ray imaging
 1896 First medical applications of x-ray in diagnosis & therapy.
 1905 Einstein introduced his theory of relativity
 1907 Snook interrupterless transformer to make high voltage. The capabilities of
the transformer exceeded the capacity of Crookes tubes.
 1913 Bohr theorizes his model of the atom.
 1913 The Crookes cathode ray tube was replaced by Coolidge hot cathode tube.
 1913 Dr. Gustave Bucky built the first grid.
 1918 Double emulsion film by Kodak.
 1920 Dr. Hollis Potter put a Grid in a moving cabinet to remove grid lines.
 1922 Compton describes scattering of x-rays
 1928 The roentgen is defined as the unit of measurement of x-ray intensity.
 1929 Rotating anode x-ray tube introduced.
 1930 Tomography is demonstrated by several investigators.
 1942 Morgan exhibits the first electronic phototimer.
 1942 First automatic film processor

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 History of x-ray imaging
 1948 First fluoroscopic image intensifier.
 1953 Rad is officially adopted as the unit of absorbed dose.
 1956 First automatic roller transport film processor introduced by Kodak
 1963 Single photon emission computed tomography demonstrated.
 1965 Ninety second film processor introduced.
 1966 Diagnostic ultrasound enters routine use.
 1972 Rare earth radiographic intensifying screen are introduced.
 1973 Hounsfield completes development of the first computed tomography (CT)
scanner (EMI)
 1973 Damadian and Lauterbur produce the first magnetic resonance image
(MRI)
 1980 First superconductor MR imager introduced
 1981 The International System of Units (SI) is adopted by the ICRU
 1983 First tabular grain film emulsion
 1983 First tabular grain film emulsion ( Kodak) introduced.
 1984 Laser stimulable phosphors for direct digital radiographs appear.
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 Contents
 Concept in Radiologic Physics
 History of x-ray imaging
 X-ray Features
 X-ray Physics
 X-ray safety introduction
 DR Composition and Theory
 Core components introduction

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 X-rays characteristics
 The human eye covers only a range
from 400 to 780 nm of the
electromagnetic spectrum.
 X-Rays are electromagnetic waves
with a higher frequency.
 X ray is very short electronic
magnetic wave , with great energy.
 Wave length 0.001～100nm
 For medical application wave length
is between 0.001 ～ 0.1nm Energy.
 Energy of X-ray photon is 10,000 ～
100,000 times of visible light photon

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 X-rays characteristics
 Highly penetrating, invisible rays
 Electrically neutral
 Travel in straight lines.
 Travel with the speed of light in vaccum: 300, 000 km/sec
 Ionize matter by removing orbital electrons
 Induce fluorescense in some substances. Fluorescent
screen glow after being stricken with photons.
 Can't be focused by lenses nor by collimators.

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 X-ray features
 Physical effects
 Penetration ：
 Ionization ：
 Fluorescence ：
 heating：
 Interference, diffraction, reflection, refraction
 Chemical effects
 Photographic
 colorization
 Biological Effects

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 X-ray strength and penetration ability
 X-ray penetration ability
 X-rays penetration ability relate to the energy of the X-ray photons, the
shorter wavelength, the greater the photon energy, and the stronger the
penetration
 For different substances X-ray has different penetration effect (difference in
absorption characteristics)
 The higher density , it will absorb more and less penetration
 X-ray intensity
 In the vertical direction of X-ray , the sum of photon energy per unit time and
area
 Unit :J/(cm2*sec)
 Higher energy for each photon, the same number of photons, X-ray intensity
will increase

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Quantity and quality of X-ray

 The quantity of X-ray

 radiation energy passing through the unit area in vertical direction with X-ray
per unit time ,described as quantity of X-ray ,can also be named as intensity :Iq
 Intensity formula can be expressed as ：

I q = ∑ N1hν 1 + N 2 hν 2 + N 3 hν 3 + ……
i

 Quality of X-ray
 X-ray penetration ability is called the X-ray material quality, also known as X-ray
hardness
 The hardness of X-ray only relate to the energy of photon , the larger energy of
photon , the more difficult for the photon to be absorbed .
 Hardness of X-ray is described in wavelength or frequency

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 Diagnosis of hardness and strength
 mA*s
 Commonly we use the tube current (mA) multiplied by exposure time-s to
describe the quantity : mA×s=mAs
 The higher the tube current , the more electronic bombardment on the anode
target, the higher intensity. Considering in period time of “s” ,it means the
total radiation .
 Tube voltage peak, the KV value
 The peak tube voltage determines the electron to reach the maximum kinetic
energy arriving at anode target surface, while useful electronic generate X-
rays generally concentrated near the peak, the tube voltage of peak voltage
can represent the X-ray penetration ability
 X-ray machine use KV value to define X-ray quality value

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 Medical significance of quality and quantity
 Lumbar photography
 Lumbar photography need high KV，if KV value too low，Most of the X-ray
photons can not pass through lumbar spine ，no matter how high of the mAs
value，we can not get good comparison of the film , and the level can not be
distinguished .
 Soft tissue Photography
 Soft tissue photographic needs relatively low KV value, if the KV value is too
large, the vast majority of X-ray photons are passing through the soft tissue,
the film will be over exposure, loss of clinical value
 Photography law
 Select the appropriate KV value to meet the situation of the object being shot,
and then select the appropriate mAs values to get the correct exposure does

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 Contents
 Concept in Radiologic Physics
 History of x-ray imaging
 X-ray Features
 X-ray Physics
 X-ray safety introduction
 DR Composition and Theory
 Core components introduction

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 X-ray Generation

 Xray generation : Power supplied to filament of tube and heated，free electrons

generated near the cathode, when the polarization of X-ray tube provided with
high voltage (tens to hundreds of kV), the cathode and the anode potential
difference between the increased sharply ,electron move with high speed from
the cathode to the anode ，energy conversion occurs while bombard the anode
tungsten target. 1％energy or less transferred into X-ray，99％or more converted
into heat.

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 X-ray Generation

Tube Voltage-KV

Filament Current

e-

Cathode anode

Tube Vurrent :Iq=Q/t

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 Three conditions for generating X-ray

 Source of electronic
 According to need, at any time to provide a sufficient number of electronic
 High-speed electron flow
 Have high voltage electric field :make electronic have the kinetic energy
 High vacuum environment :in which electronic elements will not reduce the
energey against the barrier and the ionization of gas discharge, while also
protecting the filament will not be destroyed by oxidation
 Target
 An obstacle that can withstand a high-speed electron bombardment and
generate X-ray

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 X ray generating mechanism
 Characteristic radiation

When the electron of the bombardment interact with the target atomic inner
orbital electronic, the inner electronic of target will be hit off ,the outer electron
will fill the inner space, so atoms converted from excited state to the steady-
state transition, produce radiation

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 Characteristic X-ray spectra

Characteristic lines of tungsten K lines and continuous spectrum X

E2-E1 = hν

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 Characteristic X-ray spectra

 Characteristics of X-ray wavelengths (or called frequency) depends only on the

target atomic number, independent of other factors. Only the K line radiation can
pass through the tube , that’s because other faculties of the photon energy is
small and absorbed.
 Relations of characteristics X-ray intensity ,the tube voltage and tube current ：
 Intensity of characteristic K X-ray :I0=K·I·U

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 X ray generating mechanism
 Continuous radiation

When the high-speed electronic slowing down or stopped by target atoms ,there
will be energy loss , the loss of this energy released in the form of X-ray and it is
distributed well , then generate continuous radiation .

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 X-ray radiation spectra
 Continuous X-ray line spectrum

Tube voltage

 As the tube voltage increases, the intensity of various wavelengths increase at

the same time, each curve corresponds to the maximum intensity and
minimum wavelengths are shifted to shorter wavelength direction

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 X-ray radiation spectra
 In X-ray diagnosis ，the band near the highest intensity wave plays the most
important role
 In each continuous X-ray spectral lines ,the square below the curve means the
total intensity of continuous X-ray
 Experimental results show the total intensity of X-ray tube current, tube voltage,
anode target atomic number relationship is：I0=K1·I·Z·U2
 Tube current increases, ，the more electrons generated per unit time ，the
total intensity of radiation will be greater .
 the greater tube voltage , the greater energy absorbed by each electron ,
short-wave component of the X-ray increase .
 The stronger the electric field of nuclear atom, the total strength of
continuous radiation will be greater.

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 Affect X-ray radiation spectrum of factors
 Tube current
 As Tube current increases , number of electrons bombarded anode surface
will be more in unit time , resulting in the greater X-ray intensity , X-ray tube
current is proportional with the intensity .
 Tube voltage
 X-ray photon of maximum energy depends on the maximum energy electron
bombardment, the electron energy is decided by the peak tube voltage, so
changes in X-ray tube voltage will change the intensity of it .
 X-ray intensity is proportional to the square of tube voltage

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 X-ray of the anode effect

 Anode effect

 O point of the target surface to generate X-ray radiation in all directions, the
distance through the target material for OC is longer than OB、OA，the
attenuation is big，so the intensity near OC is the weakest，intensity near
OA is bigger，the phenomenon of X-ray intensity distribution varies
according to the angle of the anode target surface is called anode effect .

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 X-ray distribution

X-ray distribution is asymmetric, the greatest

value is near 110°field，so in the clinical
application ，we should make full use of the
anode effect ，balance picture concentration .

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 The reaction between X-ray and material
X-ray source  Low energy, medium energy,
high-energy X-rays interact
with the whole atom, the
electron cloud, the core of
atom will produce different
reaction
 scattering without change
Scatered line  Compton Effect
 Photoelectric effect
 E-on effect
 Optical transformation

Film
Fog Area Black White area
area
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 Unchangeable scattering

 Low-energy photons due to insufficient energy to

hit off track electronic, we can only make atom in -
eOrbital electronic

excited state + Atom

e-
 When the atoms return to steady
state , they release excess energy in e-
the form of photons e-
e-
 For clinical diagnosis, the scattering
without change affect is no use,
because they are low-energy photons,
but it will add fog on the film to e- + e-
affect the diagnosis

e-
e- e-

e-

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 Compton Effect
Recoil electron
Incident photon Outer electron

e- e-

e-
Scattered photon
 Photon with enough energy shoot e-
e- e- e-
material, interact with the outer e-
electron, then the photon +
e- e-
frequency and shooting direction e-
change, and produce a large e-
e- e- e-
enough recoil energy e-

e-

e- + Atomic
Orbit electronic
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 Clinical manifestations of Compton effect

 Filtration is difficult A B
 Small angle scattered line lose less
energy, inevitably reach the film,
resulting in fog, such as the A line Scatter line
 Attention while protection
 During diagnosis, the scattering line from
patients will be distributed to the whole
space, must pay attention of it .
 Beneficial aspects
 Make use of Compton effect in order to
reduce patient X-ray absorption while
shooting in the bone

Scatter line

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 Photoelectric effect
 X-ray photon bombardment of atomic inner electrons, make the inner
electron released from the atomic core，X photon is captured by atomic，
this phenomenon is called photoelectric effect
Feature-ray e-

e-
e-
Outer electron e e-
-
e-
e-

e- + e-
e-

Injection photon e- e- e-
e-
e-

e-
This feature is also known
Photoelectron
as X-ray fluorescence X-ray

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 Feature of photoelectric effect

 Possibility of photoelectric effect

 X photon energy is equal or slightly larger than electron binding energy can
produce photoelectric effect more easily .
 is inversely proportional in cube to X-ray photon energy ：λ∝1/(hν)3
 With atomic number is proportional to the fourth power ： λ∝Z4
 In the clinic, due to the photoelectric effect does not produce scattered
radiation, thus reducing the sense of a photo of fog to enhance the contrast of the
photo, but patient will absorb more radiation of X-ray than ever
 in order to reduce the probability of photoelectric effect, we can improve the KV
value (that is, to the energy) to reduce the absorption

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 Energy relationship after interaction with material

Heating  5 kinds of interaction, only the

Compton effect and photoelectric
effect is particularly important
Penetrating rays  Compton effect can not provide
useful information, need to reduce
material it from technology and equipment
X-ray X-ray fluorescence  Photoelectric effect to provide
negative information, to provide
white area for the image
Scattering line  Rays through the body produce
black areas, or high concentration
of image information
Ionization energy out  Black area and white area formed
different gray-scale image
Recoil electron
Photoelectron
Auger electron

Basically, an image can be produced by the optical absorption and the penetration
of radiation, this characteristic is known as differential absorption

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The importance of different absorption
 Soft tissue
 To take the soft tissue
of the small
difference need to
use low KV value, use
the photoelectric
Compton effect proportional to
Effect fourth power of
atomic number law
increase the
absorption difference
 Bone structure
 We need to lift KV
values to shoot
structure of bone，
Photoelect then we can use the
ric effect feature photoelectric
effect decline and
penetration increase，
In the shooting, according to different organizations, choose a to reduce the
different X-ray energy (KV value), to take advantage of the absorption of the ray.
photoelectric effect, to eliminate the harmful effects of scattering
and improve the quality of the film

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X-ray attenuation and filtration

 X-ray attenuation
 The incident X-ray maximum energy is 1000 , average energy is40KeV ,after the
absorption by more thick material ,the energy intensity decrease and increase
the average energy .
 Qualitative change is due to more low-energy photon is absorbed or attenuated,
while improving the average energy, and finally make average energy close to its
highest energy, this phenomenon is called the hardening effect
 Filtering is a device based on an X-ray attenuation
 Determine the quality of X-ray beam : filtering condition and excitation voltage
(tube voltage)

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 Attenuation effect on the clinical
 In practice, KV value is based on X-ray attenuation level
 It will be 60KV when take lung photography ，when heart and lung
overlap then 77KV ，for lumbar of higher attenuation we will choose
higher KV values.
 If KV value is too low, the vast majority of X-ray photons can’t go
through the object, no matter how big of the mAs value, the film can
not achieve good contrast
 KV value is too high, most X-ray photons are passing through the
object being shot, resulting in excessive exposure
 Select the appropriate values to accommodate the KV case the object being shot,
and then select the appropriate mAs value to get the correct exposure film
 For the same “mAs” ,there are many combinations of mA and time , as long
as the KV value to maintain a certain, amount of photosensitive film is equal

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 Affect X-ray qualitative and quantitative factors
 Factors that affect the quantity
 X-ray is proportional to the amount and mAs, and proportional to (KV)2,
inversely proportional to square of the distance
 Filtration: filtering the larger, the less amount of X-ray
 Factors affecting quality
 Tube voltage: Improving X-ray tube voltage can improve the quality and half
layer, so the average energy move to high energy, penetration ability increase
 Filtration: filtering of low energy rays, equivalent to raising the quality of X-ray

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 The type of filtration
 Inherent filtration
 Filtering of X-ray tubes glass wall, oil, window on the X-ray is called inherent
filtration, approximately 0.5mm aluminum
 Because the glass wall will increase the layer of tungsten from evaporation
out of filament and target , the old X-ray tube will increase the inherent
filtration
 Additional filtration
 During diagnosis, in general need to add 1-3mm aluminum for filtration to
remove low-energy X-ray that can’t reach film, play a protection role for
patients.
 The wedge shape filtration plate is a special additional filtration according to
different irradiated site .

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 Contents
 Concept in Radiologic Physics
 History of x-ray imaging
 X-ray Features
 X-ray Physics
 X-ray safety introduction
 DR Composition and Theory
 Core components introduction

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 Radiation hazards to human

 Radiation damage
 Radiation damage: after certain amount of ionizing radiation on the body ，
the pathological reactions of the subjected body
 Acute injury: due to Acute injury: due to short time high-dose irradiation
 Chronic injury: is defined as chronic low-dose continuous exposure caused
damage, mainly due to X-ray professionals usually pay no attention to
protection, long time for the radiation overdose.
 Mechanism of radiation damage
 When X-ray irradiation of living organisms, direct ionization causing material
damage to certain macromolecules, such as protein molecular chain, RNA,
DNA and a number of important metabolic enzymes
 The water molecules exist in abundance can also be ionized in the formation
of free radicals, through the indirect role of these free radicals damage the
body

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 Factors that affect the radiation damage
 Radiation properties
 Such as: low energy X-ray exposure required to cause skin erythema is less
than high-energy X-ray
 X-ray dose
 The higher dose of the higher mortality rate, when the high dose to a certain
value, can occur 100% of the animals died
 Dose rate
 Dose rate is the absorbed dose per unit time, the same total dose, the greater
the biological effect
 Exposure mode
 The same dose, one-way and multi-direction radiation exposure of impact is
different, it is quite different for exposure for 1 time or many times ,and also
different for different time interval between exposure
 Location and extent of exposure
 Total body irradiation damage is more serious than the special field irradiation.
When cell is in division it is sensitive to radiation, while the normal non-
dividing cells are resistant to radiation.

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 The order of the radiation sensitivity of human
 Highly sensitive organization
 Lymphoid tissue, thymus, bone marrow, gastrointestinal epithelium, glands,
embryonic tissue
 Moderately sensitive tissue
 Sensory organs (corner Prince, lens), endothelial cells, skin epithelial cells,
salivary glands, kidneys liver, lung epithelial cells
 Light-sensitive tissue
 Central nervous system, endocrine (other than gonads), heart
 Organization is not sensitive
 Muscles, cartilage and bone, connective tissue

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 The principle of X-ray protection
 Time protection
 The longer exposure , the greater the accumulated dose, so the working staff
should reduce staying time in X-ray place
 Distance Protection
 Distance is inversely proportional to the amount of exposure, so except the
person under examination ,other staff need to stay as far as possible away
from the X-ray
 Shielding protection
 Increase the absorption of shielding material, such as: lead, like leather gloves,
lead aprons, lead defense chair, compartment shooting

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 Contents
 Concept in Radiologic Physics
 History of x-ray imaging
 X-ray Features
 X-ray Physics
 X-ray safety introduction
 DR Composition and Theory
 Core components introduction

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 DR product composition

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 X-ray tube
 X-ray tube is constructed by the anode, cathode, glass part

The structure of the fixed anode tube

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 X-ray tube focus

Effective focus and practical focus

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 X-ray tube

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 Rotating anode X-ray tube

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 Rotating anode X-ray tube

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 Rotating anode X-ray tube

Low speed：2800r/min
Moderate speed：8500r/min
High speed：9700r/min
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 X-ray tube cover

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 Tube parameters
 Structural parameters
 Include: the tilt angle of the target surface, the effective focus, size of shape ,
weight, wall filtering equivalent amount , anode rotation speed, temperature
and cooling forms
 Electrical parameters
 Include: filament heating voltage and current, the maximum tube voltage,
tube current, the longest exposure time, the maximum allowable power and
anode heat capacity

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 Several important parameters

 The maximum tube voltage

 Means the tube voltage peak value between two poles, if the value
exceeds the maximum tube voltage can lead to wall discharge or
breakdown
 Tube Current
 Means of the average value of maximum current in a identified tube
voltage and exposure time , it will short the filament life or damage the
focus plane if exceed this value .
 Longest exposure time
 Means of maximum exposure time in some tube voltage and tube
current conditions ,if exceeding this value , will damage focus on
surface thermal due to the accumulation of heat .
 Anode heat capacity
 Refers to the maximum in the anode can store heat.

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 Tube parameters table
Varian X-ray Tube Units
Insert Type Focal Spot KW Rating Heat Units Target Angle KVP Range
RAD-8 1.0-2.0 24/47* 150 kHU 16° 125 KVP
RAD-12 0.6-1.2 22/50 150 kHU 12.5° 150 KVP
RAD-74 0.6-1.5 19.8/52* 200 kHU 14° 150 KVP
A-145 0.3-0.6 6/25* 300 kHU 10° 125 KVP
RAD-68 1.0-2.0 54/96 300 kHU 14° 150 KVP
RAD-14 0.3-1.2 7.5/77 300 kHU 12° 150 KVP
RAD-14 0.6-1.5 32/95 300 kHU 12° 150 KVP
A-102 1.0-2.0 40/80 300 kHU 16° 150 KVP
A-132 0.6-1.2 32/76 300 kHU 12° 150 KVP
A-134 Grid 0.6-1.2 32/76 300 kHU 12° 150 KVP
A-142 0.3-1.0 9/70 300 kHU 10° 150 KVP
RAD-99 0.3-0.6 8/22 300 kHU 10° 125 KVP
RAD-21 0.6-1.2 36/100 300 kHU 12° 150 KVP
A-182 0.3-1.0 13/90 300 kHU 10° 150 KVP

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 High-voltage generator
 Effect
 High-voltage generator is to provide the required X-ray tube high voltage and
X-ray tube filament heating voltage
 Construction
 High Voltage Transformers, X-ray tube filament transformer, high
voltage rectifiers, high voltage switching gates, high voltage cable
 Feature
 Small
 High output voltage
 Required a large input current
 Design capacity is much less than the required capacity

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 X-ray high-voltage and high-frequence generator

Main circuit diagram

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 High-voltage transformer

 The characteristics of the primary coil

 Generally there are only a few hundreds
50KV
turns
 Low voltage, typically around 380 100KV
50KV

 High current, typically up to several hundred

A
amperes
 Characteristics of secondary coil
 Number of turns is usually tens of thousands
to hundreds of thousands of turns 50KV

 High voltage, tens of thousands of volts to

hundreds of thousands of volts
 Small current, only a few hundred milliamps
 Winding way is ladder structure

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 Filament transformer and high voltage cables

 Features filament transformer

 Primary is generally 220V, the secondary is about 5-15V
 Primary current small , secondary current large
 The characteristics of high voltage cables
 Role: Connecting high voltage generator and the X-ray tube high-voltage
transmission line
 Feature ：
 2 core for single-focus, the three core for two focus
 General use of color ring to indicate voltage
China：green50KV、Red75KV、Blue100KV、White125KV、Black150KV

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 High Voltage plug

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 Direct map of high voltage generator and the X-ray tubes

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 DR circuit

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 Contents
 Concept in Radiologic Physics
 History of x-ray imaging
 X-ray Features
 X-ray Physics
 X-ray safety introduction
 DR Composition and Theory
 Core components introduction

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 Core components introduction

 Flat panel detector

 Grid
 Ion chamber
 Beam limiter
 Synchronous generator
 Work station

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 Ordinary X-ray machine and CR
 Traditional X-ray imaging method is using X-ray to irradiate object and
image information is recorded in the film, after the imaging and snapshot
processing, images can be displayed in the photo
 CR imaging methods to record information need to through the record,
reading, processing and display steps , its working principle are divided into
two parts
 Imaging plate technology
 Reading technology

Image plate
X-ray Read out Monitor

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 IP technology and reading

A/D
Computer convert Amplify

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 CR System

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 The comparison ordinary X-ray machine and CR

Film method CR system

Basically the same way as film, but
Shooting Film filled into cassette, shading
can use reusable IP plate
action bag, radiatted with the X-ray
instead of film
Imaging In the darkroom environment In the bright environment through
(visualizat was snapshot by chemical a dedicated reading devices for
ion) treatment (wet) optical processing (dry)
Checked by high-resolution
Check using high brightness light to
CRT ,can achieve image more
operation check the snapshot film
clearly
Custody of the film material as Digital images were recorded in
evidence, such as to make for large-capacity DVD-RAM, can
Storage and
computers, scanning must be be more effective and full use,
data use
transformed into digital storage convenience, reliability
information image and long

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 DR flat-panel detector
 Flat-panel detector is direct digital photography, usually refers to
electronic imaging plate technology - flat-panel detector technology (FPD
Technique), electronic imaging plate is constructed with a large number
of tiny thin film transistors (TFT) array .
 detector types
 Indirect DR，in short IDR
 The structure of indirect FPD multi-layer structure, mainly by the scintillator (CsI)
or fluorescent (GdSO) layer add amorphous silicon layer (amorphous Silicon, a-Si)
has function of photodiode and TFT array to form flat-panel detector.
 Such a scintillator FPD or phosphor layer exposed under X-ray, the X-ray photons
transferred into visible light, then the role of a low-noise photodiode amorphous
silicon layer (TFT array) absorb visible light and converted to electrical signals,
then by the readout circuit read each pixel of the digital signals and transmit it to
the computer image processing system to integrate the X-ray image, and finally
get a digital image display
 Indirect FPD due to visible light conversion process, so there will be light scattering,
which affect the image resolution
 Direct DR，in short DDR
 Mainly constructed by the amorphous selenium layer (Amorphous Selenium, a-Se)
and film semiconductor array (Thin Film Transistor array, TFT). Incident X-ray
photons produced in the selenium layer of electron hole pairs in the applied bias
electric field, electron and hole move in opposite directions on the formation of
the current, the current points in the thin film transistor in a storage charge. Each
transistor charge storage relates to the incident X-ray photon energy and the
number.
 Material amorphous selenium is not produced visible light, but only energy loss for
electronic conduction, not scattered, refracted ray.
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 The structure of flat-panel detector

TFT (Thin Film Transistor)、CCD (Charge Coupling Device)、

CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semi-Conductor)
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 Characteristics of CR and DR
CR DR
Imaging X-ray indirect conversion, use of IP as X-ray direct conversion, direct digital format
the X-ray detector plate, more image, using selenium as an X-ray detector,
principle procedure than DR to get image less procedure to get image
Work operation more complicated Compared Exposure time shorter than CR, more efficient
efficiency with the DR, less efficient work
Because of its structure, there is optical No optical image blurring caused by scattering,
scattering, so image blur and the resolution mainly decided by the pixel
Image
reduce the image resolution, time size, has a better spatial resolution and
resolution resolution, image quality slightly contrast than the CR system, higher image
inferior to DR quality
Due to the increased X ray photon conversion
X-ray dose low
efficiency (DQE), lower dose of radiation
Lower than the DR, without changing Expensive, require modification of existing X-
Cost
the existing equipment ray equipment
Developmen Has long period of developing together
replace the CR eventually
t future with DR

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 Grids and the principle

Grid ratio value has 6:1、8:1、10:1、12:1、16:1、34:1 etc, the greater of the R

value , the stronger ability to absorb scattering line
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 Ionization chamber

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Ionization chamber working principle

 Ionization chamber is insulated container Conductive material

composed by two parallel metal electrodes
sealed in air .
 Increases DC high voltage between the two
electrodes , when the X-ray irradiation, the gas is
ionized, and form current. Current determine
amount of the X-ray exposure, if the X-ray
irradiation dose did not reach pre-set value, the
ionization chamber under the current system
automatically adjusts the filament current, in
order to get sufficient exposure photographs
 Effect
 Auto exposure limit device
 Self-adjusting filament current Low-density foam padding

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 Collimator

 Radiation field
 Light field

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 Version

Version Author Date Description

1.0 Alex.Yu 2012-3-5 X Ray Fundamentals

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 Thanks！

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