EXAM #2 (Ch. 8-10, 17, 21) Flashcards
High frequency generators are __ % ripple.
High frequency generators are ~ 1% ripple.
True / False
High frequency generators are the most efficient generators
True
True / False
High frequency generators are large
False
High freq. generators are small in size
[*] Variation in peak voltage waveform.
Single phase = __%
Three phase 6 pulse = __%
Three phase 12 pulse = __%
High frequency = __%
Single phase = 100%
Three phase 6 pulse = 14%
Three phase 12 pulse = 3%
High frequency = ~1%
What do exposure timers do
Typical time interval?
Allow us to know exactly how long the electrons boiled off will take to cross the circuit
10-15 miliseconds
What’s a mechanical timer in terms of:
- What units are they used in?
- What kind of design?
- Typical time interval?
Used in portable or dental units
Clockwork design
Only for times >250ms
What are synchronous timers in terms of:
- Type of motor
- Typical time interval?
Electric motor spinning at precisely 60rev/s
Time intervals of multiples of 1/60 s
What are electronic timers in terms of:
- Prevalence
- Accuracy
- Price
- Circuitry
- Times
- Usage
- Most common timer
- Most accurate
- Expensive
- Complex circuitry
- Time = ~1ms
- Can be used for rapid exposures (fluoroscopy)
What are mAs timers?
• How can you tweak mAs?
Tell it what mAs you need and it selects maximum mA and minimal time
Example: I want 300 mAs, how can I get to 300 mA and s?
300 mA (300 electrons) for 1 second
600 mA for .5 second
1200 mA for .25 second
[*] What are AEC in terms of:
What does it stand for?
How does it work?
When will the X-ray turn off for safety?
Automatic Exposure Control
As the exposure is being made, the beam is turned off once enough radiation has reached through to the cells in the bucky
Turns off for safety after 6 seconds / 600 mAs
POWER = _____ • _____
WATTS = _____ • _____
POWER = CURRENT • POTENTIAL
WATTS = AMPERES • VOLTS
What’s the maximum available power?
When you use the maximum tube current, mAs, at 100 kVp for 100ms
Example:
60kW
POWER = 600mA • 100kVp
POWER = 60kW
(100kVp, 100ms, and 600 mA = 60,000W)
Power ratings are expressed in what unit?
Kilowatts, not watts
What is the three phase and high-frequency generator equation?
• What is the single phase generator equation?
kW=(mAs x kVp) / 1000
• kW= 0.7 x {(mAs x kVp) / 1000}
0.7 is used to account for waveform ripple
What are the 3 external structures of the x-ray tube?
Support structure
Protective housing
Glass/metal envelope
What are the 2 internal structures of the x-ray tube?
Cathode
Anode
What purpose do external structures serve?
• What are the two types of support systems?
Supports tube housing and allows tube movement
Floor-to-ceiling support
+
Floor mounted support
X-ray tube housing must limit radiation leakage to ___ Mr/hour @ ___ meter(s)
• What is Mr?
X-ray tube housing must limit radiation leakage to 100Mr/hour @ 1 meter
Mr = milliroentgen
What is the purpose of the X-ray tube housing?
- What provides an outlet for the beam to exit?
- What is the purpose of the oil?
- How does it decrease shock risk?
Protects tube from damage and reduces radiation exposure from non-useful beam
- The window
- Allows heat from tube to go to the oil and cool the tube (sometimes a fan)
- High voltage receptacles decrease shock risk
What is the cathode?
- Is the cathode the negative or positive side of the tube?
- What material is it made of and why?
- Can vaporization be detected prior to tube failure?
A low current flows to the cathode to keep it at a set temperature to prepare it for exposure (too much heat when it’s cold will break it)
- Negative side of the tube
- Often composed of tungsten because it can sustain high temperatures and has good longevity
- Yes, vaporization can be detected prior to tube failure
[*] What is thermionic emission?
The coil of wire is hot enough now that it’s giving off electrons (boiling them off)
(this can take place before exposure)
What is the focusing cup in the cathode?
• Is it positive or negative, and why?
- Holds filament in the metal cup
* The cup is negatively charged and thus repulses the negative electrons in a certain direction (like charges repel)
What are dual focus tubes?
- In what situations are both components used?
- Their FSS on the anode?
Tubes with 2 filaments (one small + one large)
- one small filament (small focal spot) - low mA used, more detail
- one large filament (large focal spot) - high mA used, less detail
• size on anode:
small FSS = 0.1 - 0.6mm
large FSS = 1.0 - 1.2mm
FSS = focal spot size
Is the anode positive or negative?
- What machines have stationary anodes?
- Why do anodes rotate?
The positive side of the tube where the x-ray is produced
- Stationary is used in portable and dental units, which require low current and power
- Rotating allows the disk to rotate which allows greater heat capacity, dissipation, current, and power
What are the 3 PURPOSES of the anode?
electrical conductor = returns electrons to high voltage generator
mechanical support = hold target / FS
thermal conductor = must be able to conduct large amounts of heat quickly to prevent melting of RS and anode
Why do we have two filaments
small is for more detail and small parts
big is for big parts that are more dense
What might the anode be made of
• The track?
molybdenum
rodium
graphite
track = tungsten
Line focus principle
allows for large actual FSS and small effective FSS
actual FSS is large to dissipate heat
small effective FSS allows for small detail
different angled tubes for different effective FSS (the larger the angle, the larger the effective FSS)
At what amperage does the thermionic emission take place in the filament
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
D. 4
21% of class correct
The focusing cup of the cathode must be _____ in electrical charge
A. Positive
B. Negative
C. Neutral
B. Negative
positive only when timer is present in grid x-ray tubes
increasing the anode angle from 7 to 15 degrees causes a _____ in the EFSS
A. increase
B. decrease
C. no change
A. increase
What is heel effect?
• light/dark in terms of exposure?
X-ray intensity on cathode side is more intense than the anode side
(because of the thickness of the disc of the anode)
Darker = more exposure Lighter = less exposure
Small focal spots have limited/small _____ __ _____
Small focal spots have limited/small fields of view (FoV)
What is an application of anode heel effect?
Thicker parts of body towards cathode end
What is the beam intensity at the CR
100%
What can a single excessive exposure do
Causes pitting, melting, target vaporization, and cracking
What can long exposure (don’t hold rotor) times do
Causes rotor and bearings to heat leading to increased friction and imbalance of rotor
What is filament vaporization
Filament burns off and leaves a coating on the inside of the tube which disrupts electron flow and may cause arcing and sparking
What is the purpose of radiographic rating charts?
Provides safe exposure factors to be used
What is the purpose of anode cooling charts?
Illustrates the time it will take for tube to cool
What is the purpose of housing cooling charts?
Illustrates the time it takes for housing to cool
[*] heat units
single phase
three phase 6 pulse
three phase 12 pulse
HU = kVp x mA x sec
HU = 1.35 x kVp x mA x sec
HU = 1.41 x kVp x mA x sec
How are anodes cooled down?
Oil and/or fan(s)
What do the following 3 abbreviations stand for?
S.O.D.
S.I.D.
O.I.D.
Source to object
Source to image distance
Object to image distance
How does x-ray beam production work?
• What radiation is produced?
The beam is produced due to the interaction of accelerated electrons from the cathode to the anode
Two types of radiation are produced, represented by the x-ray emission brem’s
[*] __% of the kinetic energy from the electrons is converted into heat at the anode, while the other __% is used to create x-rays
99% of the kinetic energy from the electrons is converted into heat at the anode, while the other 1% is used to create x-rays
Increases in _____ do not improve the efficiency of production; however, increases in _____ does.
Increases in current do not improve the efficiency of production; however, increases in kVp does.
Increases in _____ do not improve the efficiency of production; however, increases in _____ does.
Increases in current do not improve the efficiency of production; however, increases in kVp does.
A K shell electron was removed with a binding energy of 69 KeV, it was replaced by an L shell electron with a binding energy of 12 keV, what’s my x-ray’s energy?
57 keV
69 - 12 = 57
[*] what shell gives us a useful x-ray
K shell
An M shell electron with the keV of 3 is replaced by P shell keV of ~0 — what’s my x-ray’s energy?
3 keV
The keV of the K shell in tungsten
69 keV
[*] Can I have a [useful] characteristic interaction with the K shell electron if the incoming electron is 50 keV
No, because it’s not strong enough to bounce the 69 keV electron out
__ - __% of x-ray beam is Brem’s
85-100% of x-ray beam is Brem’s
To increase the KE of an electron one may _____.
A. increase the e- mass
B. increase the e- velocity
C. E- KE cannot be changed
B. increase the e- velocity
What percent of the electrons reaching the anode creates x-rays
A. 1
B. 10
C. 100
A. 1
Characteristic radiation production requires
A. Slowing of electrons
B. Electron removal from an atom
C. Electron addition to atom
D. None of the above
B. Electron removal from an atom
Brem’s radiation production @ 70% kVp accounts for what % of the beam
A. 15
B. 50
C. 85
D. 100
C. 85%
What is emission spectrum
Illustrates the different x-ray energies present in the beam
What is the 15% rule
An increase of 15% in kV equals a doubling of mAs
A decrease of 15% kV quals in halving the amount of mAs
(higher efficiency with kV increase + less exposure than using 2x mAs for the same image)
Why do we filter the beam?
• Why is it done?
Reduces quantity of beam while increasing average quality of beam
Low energy x-rays filtered out and high energy x-rays to patient (low unnecessary radiation sent to patient)
Increasing the atomic number _____ the amount of Brem’s and _____ the energy of the rays.
Increasing the atomic number increases the amount of Brem’s and increases the energy of the rays.
If I increase mAs what happens to the emission spectrum
Height change, same shape
An x-ray beam may be described as which of the following
A. Mono-energetic
B. Poly-energetic
C. Homogenous
D. Heterochromatic
B. Poly-energetic
The emission spectrum crosses the X-axis at what percentage of the kVp
A. 100
B. 10
C. 1
D. 0.1
A. 100
An increase in the amplitude of the emission spectrum only indicates an increase in _____?
A. kVp
B. filtration
C. generator
D. mA
D. mA
The three essential conditions for the production of x-rays?
- source of free electrons
- acceleration of electrons
- deceleration of electrons
The three essential parts of an x-ray system?
- Control console
- High-voltage generator
- X-ray tube
What controls the quality of the X-ray beam?
kVp
What controls the quantity of the X-ray beam?
mA
What does an autotransformer do?
Provides exact, constant voltage to equipment in the low voltage side of the circuit
What does the filament transformer do?
Decreases voltage, increasing current
What current is required for thermionic emission to happen?
• How is this current creation accomplished?
high-amperage
(friction between electrons produced to heat wire)
• Accomplished through a step-down transformer + resistors
What are the 3 advantages to AEC?
- Consistent exposures
- Reducing repeated exposures
- Reducing radiation exposure to patients
What are the usual kVp ranges in diagnostic imaging (WIP: see page 140, I have it for generators but need the typical range)
- Single-phase?
- 3-phase, 6 phase?
- 3-phase, 12 phase?
- High-frequency?
Single-phase = 33%
3-phase, 6P = 91%
3-phase, 12P = 97%
High-freq. = 99%
What are the disadvantages to AEC?
Grids, cassettes, and detector plates lie behind the AEC detectors so the system has no way of knowing when they are changed
Can become a crutch for radiographers who don’t want to use manual parameters
What are the three components of the high-voltage circuit
- Autotransformer
- Step-up transformer
- Rectifier bridge
The high-voltage current flows from cathode/anode to cathode/anode.
The high-voltage current flows from cathode to anode.
What is voltage rectification and why do we need it?
• Where does voltage rectification take place?
Voltage rectification ensures that electrons will always enter the x-ray tube in the right direction at the filament end—no matter which way the electrons flow into the rectifier bridge
• Takes place in the high-voltage section and is the last step before sending electricity to the x-ray tube
Amperage is the measure of _____.
Current
What is the voltage ripple for the 5 types of generators?
- Single-phase, half-wave?
- Single-phase, full-wave?
- 3-phase, 6 phase?
- 3-phase, 12 phase?
- High-frequency?
- Single-phase, half-wave = 100% ripple
- Single-phase, full-wave = 100% ripple
- 3-phase, 6 phase = 14% ripple
- 3-phase, 12 phase = 3% ripple
- High-frequency = ~ 1% ripple
What are the pulses per second for the following types of generators?
- Single-phase, half-wave?
- Single-phase, full-wave?
- 3-phase, 6 phase?
- 3-phase, 12 phase?
- Single-phase, half-wave = 60 pulses
- Single-phase, full-wave = 120 pulses
- 3-phase, 6 phase = 360 pulses
- 3-phase, 12 phase = 720 pulses
What is power rating?
An indication of a generator or transformer’s overall quality
(expressed in kW)
What is space charge effect?
Cloud of negative electrons surrounding the filament deters continued thermionic emission
What is the purpose of the filament?
A heated filament provides a source of free electrons, producing thermionic emission
What is the purpose of the focusing cup?
Pushes electrons back toward the middle of the beam as they leave the filament
What is the cathode?
The negatively charged end of the x-ray tube including the focusing cup and filament