Chapter 27 - Medical imaging Flashcards
how are x-rays produced
by rapidly accelerating or decelerating charged particles, their kinetic energy transfers to high-energy photons
why are x-rays referred to as soft
because they have energies lower than that of gamma rays
structure of an x-ray tube
heated filament (cathode) and tungsten anode with p.d. between them up to 200kV, and sealed in a vacuum tube
how does an x-ray tube work
electrons emitted from cathode and drawn towards anode. they collide with the anode and some KE is released as x-rays in all directions
why do x-ray tubes need a vacuum
to prevent electrons from colliding with molecules of air before enough energy is gained to release x-rays
how is the anode prevented from overheating
water is used as a coolant, circulating through the anode
importance of x-rays being focused at one point
- minimise patients exposure
- can be directed at specific areas (broken bone)
what is x-ray attenuation
when a material absorbs x-rays, exponentially decreasing the intensity
what does a greater attenuation coefficient mean
material will absorb more incident x-rays
what happens to the kinetic energy of electrons during the x-ray process
- less than 1% is emitted as x-rays
- the rest is transferred to thermal energy in the anode
photoelectric effect (x-rays)
- less than 100 keV
- x-rays absorbed by electrons, photoelectron is released when absorbed, and another electron is moved down an energy level
Compton effect (x-rays)
- 0.5 to 5 MeV
- inelastic collision between photon and electron
- x-rays lose a fraction of their energy to electrons in the absorbing material
- scattered x-ray photon has less energy than before
Pair production (x-rays)
- energy greater than 1.02 MeV
- x-ray passes through the electric field of an atom
- produces an electron-positron pair
- positron collides with another electron and annihilate produced photons
CAT
computerised axial tomography
ultrasound frequency
greater than 20kHz