X RAY ATTENUATION

Attenuation

is the
reduction in the intensity
of x-ray beam as it
traverses matter by either
absorption or deflection of
photons from the beam.

DEFINITION

Attenuation

depends on quality and

quantity of photons in a beam.
Quantity reduction in photons
Quality increase in mean energy of
photon

Attenuation

of monochromatic radiation
Attenuation of poly chromatic radiation

Types

monochromatic
radiation
It

is only associated with

change in quantity of
photons and not quality.
It is a linear attenuation.

When

no. of photons and absorber

thickness are plotted on semi log graph
paper, a straight line is obtained.
It is because of no. of photons remaining
in the beam decreases by the same %
with each increment of absorber.
Attenuation is called exponential.

It

is measure of quantity of radiation

attenuated by a given thickness of an
absorber.
Name of coefficient is determined by units
that are used to measure thickness of
absorber.

Attenuation coefficient

Linear

attenuation coefficient
Mass attenuation coefficient

Types of attenuation coefficient

It

is a quantitative measurement
It depends upon the thickness of the
tissue and it is measured in per cm of
absorber.
It tells us how much attenuation we
expect from certain thickness of tissue
It is symbolized by greek letter
Unit per cm
Used for monochromatic radiation

Linear attenuation coefficient

It

is specific both for energy of x ray

beam and type of absorber
Water, fat, bone and air all have different
linear attenuation coefficient and size of
coefficient changes as x-ray beam
changes
Increase in energy equals to decrease in
linear attenuation coefficient.

It

is obtained by dividing linear

attenuation coeffiecient by density
It is symbolized by / .
Units is gm/cm square
Unit of coefficient is reciprocal of unit of
absorber.
Mass attenuation coefficient is
independent of density of absorber.

Mass attenuation coefficient

1. Nature

of radiation
2. Atomic no.,
3. Density and
4. Electrons/ gm of matter

Factors affecting attenuation

Density

and atomic no.

Density and electrons per gm
Atomic no. and electrons per gm

Relationship between density,

atomic no. and electrons per gm

Elements

with high atomic no. are denser than

elements with low atomic no,
Few exceptions gold and lead
Gold atomic no. 79 density 19.3 gm/cm quibe
Lead atomic no. 82 density 11 gm/cm quibe
No relation - when different physical states of
matter are considered.
Eg. Water has effective atomic no. of 7.4
regardless of its state (ice, liquid, vapour) but its
density is different in each of these states

Density and atomic no.

No

relation b/w density and electrons per

gm
Eg. A gram of water has same no. of
electrons regardless of whether they are
compressed together in 1 cm qube as a
liquid , or spread out over 1670 cm qube
as a vapour.

Density and electrons per gm

No.

of electrons per gm is a function of no. of

neutrons in the atom.
If the elements did not have neutrons , all
materials would have 6x 10 to the power 23
eletrons per gm
Eg.H which has no neutrons has 6x 10 to the
power 23 eletrons per gm
Elements found in soft tissues ar C, N & 02 all
have 3x10 to the power 23 eletrons per gm
Elements with low atomic no . Have more electrons
per gm than with high atomic no.

Atomic no. and electrons per gm

As

radiation energy increases, percentage

of photo electric energy decreases for
water and bone.
As atomic no. increases , percentage of
photoelectric reactions increases
With very low energy radiation, the
photoelectric effect predominates
regardless of atomic no.

Effects of energy and atomic no. on

attenuation

As

radiaton energy is increased, compton

scattering becomes more prominent until
it eventually it replaces the photoelectric
effect as predominent interaction.
With high atomic no. absorbers like
sodium iodide the photoelectric effect is
predominate interaction throught the
diagnostic energy range.

The

linear attenuation coefficient is sum

of contribution from
1. Coherent scattering
2. Photoelectric effect &
3. Compton scattering

If

we know the relative % of each type of

interaction we can predict the total
amount of attenuation.
Attenuation always greater when
photoelectric effect predominates.

Energy

has influence on type of basic interaction & also has

its own effect on attenuation.
Attenuation decreases as radiation energy increases.
At 20 kvp (low), PEE predominates & few photons are
transmitted .
As energy inc., PEE becomes less imp. & completely ceases
at 100 kvp(high).
Even when compton scattering predominates , % of
transmitted photons continues to inc. as radiation
energy inc.
Higher the energy of radiation , larger the % of
transmitted photons, regardless of the basic
interaction.

Energy

Usually

as radiation energy inc. , x-ray

transmission increases
But with high atomic no. absorbers, transmission
may actually decrease with increasing beam
energy ., this is b/c of abrupt change in likelihood
of PER as radiation energy reaches the binding
energy of inner shell eA photon cannot eject an e- unless it has more
energy than e- binding energy.
Thus a lower energy photon is more likely to be
transmitted than a high energy photon.

Atomic number

Binding energy of K-shell eRadiation just below k-edge large % of photons is

transmitted, while just above k-edge transmission
drops.
Higher the attenuation coefficient, lower the no. of
transmitted photons.
Gram for gram tin is better absorber of x-rays than
lead, we are carrying gram as protective aprons.
A lighter tin apron gives the same protection as a
standard lead apron.

K - edge

Commonly

used contrast barium and

iodide are selected b/c of their low toxicity.
They have binding energy : Ba -34kev ,
I 32kev , these are approx.
same as used in most of the diagnostic xrays, so many interactions occur at k-shell
level .
When maximum x-ray absorption is
desired , k- edge of the absorber should
be closely matched to the energy of x-ray
beam.

Eg:

xeroradiography employs a selenium

plate with a k-edge of 12.7kev as x-ray
absorber.
Low k-edge makes it excellent absorber
for low energy radiation (30-35kev) used
for mammography.
Poor choice for high energy radiation used
in chest x-ray (350 kvp).
Tungsten with a k-edge of 69.5kvp is used
in high energy radiation.

Difference

in tissue density is the reason

why we see an x-ray image .
Density determines the no. of e- present
in a given thickness , so it determines the
tissues stopping power .
Linear relationship.

Effect of density on attenuation

No.

of compton Rx depend upon no. of e-in a given

thickness.
Absorbers with many e- are more impervious to
radiation than absorbers with few eDensity determines the no. of e- that will be present
with given thickness & this determines x-ray
attenuation.
When compton Rx predominates, no. of e/cm3
becomes the most imp. Factor in attenuation, so even
though bone has fewer e/gm than water , bone still
attenuates more radiation ,b/c it has more e/gm3

Effect of e-/gm on attenuation

The

wt. of atom is sum of protons and neutrons .

No. of protons= no. of eChanging unit is neutron , does not add to e- &
only inc. mass
As At no. inc , the no. of neutron inc. faster than
no. of eHydrogen has no neutron , and it has twice the
no. of e-/gm as any other element .
O2 has one neutron and e-, and half as many eper gram as hydrogen.
Lead has more neutron than e-, so it has even
fewer e- per gram than O2.
In general high atomic no. elements have about
20% fewer electrons per gram than low atomic
no. elements.

It

contain the whole spectrum of photons of various

energies, most energetic beam determined by peak kev
used to generate the beam
In general the mean energy of polychromatic radiation is
between 1/3rd to of its peak energy.
As polychromatic radiation passess through an absorber, the
transmitted photons undergo change in both quality and
quantity.
No. of photons reduces, cause some are deflected and
absorbed out of beam just as in monochromatic radiation
Quality changes because the low energy radiations are
attenunated more than high energy photons i.e. mean
energy of photons increased.

Attenuation of polychromatic
radiation

Photons

in a x-ray beam enter a patient with

a uniform distribution and emerge in a
specific pattern of distribution
Transmitted photons carries x ray image but
their patterns also carries the memory of
attenuated photons
Both transmitted and attenuated photons are
equally important
Image formation depends upon differential
attenuation between tissues.

Attenuation in diagnostic radiology

LAC for H2O & Bone

Bone

has greater linear attenuation coefficient by a

factor of 6
With such a difference, x-ray image will display a great
deal of contrast
Total linear attenuation coefficient is made up of 3
separate coefficient one for each of the basic
interaction
Coherent scattering, photoelectric and compton
scattering
At low photon energies most of the difference in the x
ray attenuation between bone and soft tissue results
from a difference in no. of photo electric reactions.

More

photoelectric reactions occurs

because bone contains calcium which has
high atomic no.
At high photon energies the difference in
x ray attenuation is entirely the result of
difference in no. of compton reactions
When compton reaction predominates,the
differential attenuation is entirely
dependent upon differences in density.

Fat

and water are always difficult differentiate on x ray

The effective atomic no. of water (7.4) is slightly greater than
(5.9) so they can be differentiated by photoelectric attenuation
with low energy techniques
With higher energy radiation, when compton attenuation
predominates, differentiation between fat and water depends upon
density and the no. e- per gram.
Water has greater density, but fewer e- per gram.
The net result is the no. of e- per cubic centimeter, are nearly
same for both water and fat
Water has approx. 2% more e-/cm3 which is too small a difference
to demonstrate with only compton reactions.
A significant difference in attenuation between fat and water can
only be differentiated with low energy techniques.

Scatter

radiation destracts from film quality and

contributes no useful information.
With thick parts like abdomen, only 1% of the
photons in the initial beam reaches the film and
rest is attenuated.
The majority are attenuated by compton
scattering
And they fortunately do not reach the film and
Those which reach the film make a major and
undesirable , contribution to total film blackening.

SCATTER RADIATION

All

undesirable radiation may be referred as

secondary radiation,
Which includes photons and e- that might
contribute to film fog.
Practically none of e- has sufficient energy to
reach film and the only characteristic radiation
with sufficient energy to cause a problem occurs
during contrast examinations with barium and
iodine.
The only secondary radiation of any significance
comes from compton scattering,

factors determine the quantity of scatter

radiation. These are as follows;
Kilovoltage (kvp)
Part thickness
Field size
Scatter radiation is max with high kvp
techniques, large field and thick parts.
We are not having control on any of these.
Field size is more important factor in
production of scatter radiation

Factors affecting scatter radiation

small x ray field irradiates only a small

volume of tissue , so it generates a small no.
scattered photons and most of them miss the
film because they have large angle of escape.
The escape angle is much larger than the
narrow angle encompassed by primary beam.
So the quantity of scattered radiation is small
to begin with, and most of it never reaches
the plane of film.

Narrow

beam attenuation is method to

measure attenuation of primary radiation
As the x ray field is enlarged, the quantity of
scattered radiation increases rapidly at first
and then gradually tapers off until it reaches
a plateau or saturation point
Total no. of scattered photons in the field
increases but the no. that reaches any
particular point on the film remains constant.

The

quantity of scattered radiation

reaches a saturation point with increasing
part thickness
And total no. of scattered photons keeps
increasing as the part becomes thicker,
but photons originating in the upper layers
of photons do not have sufficient energy
to reach the film

Part thickness

Effect

of kvp on production of scattered

radiation not much important.
In low energy range where the photo electric
effect predominates, very little scattered
radiation is produced
As radiation energy increases, the % of
compton reaction increases and so does the
production of scattered radiation. and when
it predominates scatter radiation tends to
plateau but it is not well defined.

kvp

FILTERS

Tissue can be protected by absorbing the

lower-energy photons from the beam
before they reach the patient by
interposing a filter material between the
patient and x-ray tube.

In

radiaological examination the x-ray beam

is
Filtered by absorbers at three different levels.
These are as follows:1. The x-ray tube and its housing (inherent
filtration)
2. Sheets of metal placed in the path of the
beam (added filtration)
3. The patient.

Filtration

resulting from the absorption of

x-ray as they pass through the x-ray tube
and its housing is called inherent filtration.
Material responsible
Glass envelope enclosing the anode and
cathode, the insulating oil surrounding the
tube, and the window in the tube housing.
Inherent filtration is measured in
alluminium equivalent;

INHERENT FILTRATION

The

thickness of alluminium that would

produce the same degree of attenuation
as the thickness of the material in
question.
Inherent filtration varies between 0.5
1.0mm alluminium equivalent, and the
glass envelope is responsible for most of
it.

In

few circumstances, unfiltered radiation is

desirable.
Beryllium window tubes are used to produce an
essentially unfiltered beam.
In this the exit portal of glass envelope is replaced
with berylium (atomicc number of 4), which is more
transperent to low energy radiation than glass.
The radiation from these tubes have min. inherent
filtration.
It is excelent for soft tissue radiography particularly
mammography.

Absorbers

placed in the path of x-ray

beam.
Material can be selected to absorb
principally low energy radiation, by
utilizing the proclivity of photoelectric
attenuation for low energy photons.
Aluminium and copper are the materials
used for diagnostic radiology.

ADDED FILTRATION

Aluminium

with atomic no. 13 is excellent

filter material for low energy radiation.
Copper with an atomic no. 29 is better
filter for high energy radiation.
Copper is always used in combination with
aluminium as a compound filter
A compound filter consist of 2 or more
layers of different materials.

Layers

arranged so that cu faces the x ray

tube and aluminium faces the patient.
Most of the filtration occurs in the copper and
The aluminium is used to absorb characteristic
radiation from copper.
Photoelectric attenuation in the copper
produces characteristic radiation with energy
of about 8 kev
This is energetic enough to reach the patient
and significantly increases the skin doses.

The

aluminium layer absorb this

characteristic radiation.
Aluminium has Its own characteristic
radiation has so little energy (1.5kev) that
is absorbed in the air gap between the
patient and filter.

2mm

thickness of aluminium virtually

absorb all photons with energy less than
20 kev
Most advantages of filtration are achieved
by this thickness.
A filter more 3mm offers no advantag;
infact, excess filtration has definite
disadvantages.

FILTER THICKNESS

Operating

kvp & total filtration

Below 50kvp 0.5mm aluminium
50-70 kvp 1.5mm aluminium
Above 70kvp 2.5mm aluminium

Copper

filters are at least 0.25 mm thick,

and they are backed with 1mm thick layer
of aluminium.

Effect of filters on patient exposure

Effect of filters on exposure factors

Fig.

Used

to obtain films of more uniform density

when the part being examined diminishes greatly
in thickness from one side of field to other
Filter is shaped like a wedge
When one side of the patient is considerably
thicker the wedge compensated for the
difference.
Less radiation is absorbed by thinner part of the
filter so, more is available to pass through the
thicker part of the patient

WEDGE FILTERS

WEDGE FILTERS

Uses

of wedge filters
1.Radiotherapy
2.Lateral view of the pregnant abdomen

THANKYOU.