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. RSNA. 1998
457
Scattered
photon
discussions of the factors that affect the mode the incident photon. This type of interaction
of x-ray interaction and how these interactions has a low probability of occurrence in the diag-
influence the x-ray images are presented. Fi- nostic energy range and typically accounts for
nally, examples of differences in x-ray interac- less than 5% of x-ray interactions. Rayleigh in-
tions that can be exploited to enhance the teractions are also referred to as coherent scat-
clinical utility of a diagnostic examination are tering or classical scattering.
presented. The specific modes of x-ray interac- During a Rayleigh interaction, the electric
tions include Rayleigh scattering, Compton field of the electromagnetic wave of the mci-
scattering, photoelectric absorption, and pair dent photon expends energy, which causes all
production. This article discusses the impor- the electrons in the scattering atom to oscillate
tance of these interactions in medical imaging, and radiate in phase. The electron cloud of the
some of their characteristics, and their relative atom immediately reradiates this energy, emit-
probability of occurrence in the energy range ting a photon of the same energy but typically
of x rays used for diagnostic purposes (ie, the in a slightly different direction (Fig i).
diagnostic energy range). (Further reading on
these topics can be found in references 1-8.) U COMPTON SCAflERING
Described by Arthur Compton in i923 (3), the
U RAYLEIGH SCATTERING details of Compton scattering and the factors
In Rayleigh scattering, the incident photon in- that contribute to its probability of occurrence
teracts with, and excites, the total atom, as are very important to medical imaging. X-ray
opposed to individual electrons as is common photons undergoing Compton scattering do so
with the other types of x-ray interactions. Be- by interacting with so-called free or valence
cause this interaction occurs mainly with very shell electrons, in which the incident photon
low energy diagnostic x rays, such as those energy greatly exceeds the binding energy of
used in mammography (15-30 key), there is the valence shell electron that is ejected. For
no ionization and the scattered photon is emit- example, a iOO-keV photon interacting with a
ted with essentially no loss in energy relative to water molecule in soft tissue primarily does so
through Compton scattering interactions, in
which the binding energy of the electrons in
the water molecules (ie, hydrogen and oxygen
atoms) is insignificant compared with the mci- tive to the incident photon is denoted as 0.
dent photon energy. In fact, Compton scatter- While the incident photon undergoes Compton
ing predominates not only in the diagnostic en- scattering, the resultant Compton scattered
ergy range of x rays in tissue (ie, above 30 key) photon and ejected (or recoil) electron appear
but continues to predominate well beyond di- simultaneously. The process of Compton scat-
agnostic energies of x rays (to approximately tening is illustrated in Figure 2.
30 MeV). When Compton scattering does oc- The probability of Compton scattering is
cur at the lower x-ray energies associated with proportional to the number of electrons per
diagnostic imaging (25- 1 50 kVp), the majority gram. The number of electrons per gram is
of the incident photon energy interacting with fairly constant in most materials with the ex-
the loosely bound electron is transferred to the ception of hydrogen, which, because of its lack
scattered photon, which, when detected by of neutrons, results in an approximate doubling
the image receptor, contributes to image degra- of electron density. Thus, hydrogenous materi-
dation by reducing the primary photon attenua- als have a higher probability of a Compton scat-
tion differences of the tissues. ten interaction than nonhydnogenous materials
The components of Compton scattering to of equal mass. However, in radiology, we do
keep track of during the interaction are as fol- not usually compare equal masses. We usually
lows: The incident photon wavelength is de- compare regions of an image that correspond
noted as X1 and its energy, as E0. The energy to irradiation of adjacent volumes of tissue.
of the Compton electron is denoted as E, Therefore, density-that is, the mass contained
whereas the scattered photon wavelength is within a given volume-plays an important
denoted as X2 with energy equal to The
angle of deflection of the scattered photon rela-
100 keV
incident
photon
Characteristic
A:O.6keV(N--M)
B:4.4keV(M--L)
To conserve energy during each electron characteristic x ray indicates an electron transi-
transition, characteristic x rays are emitted tion to the K shell from a nonadjacent shell
with an energy that equals the difference be- (eg, the M shell).
tween the binding energies of the electrons Another form of energy dissipation is Auger
from the initial and fmal shells. Consider the electron In this process,
emission. the energy
transition of an electron from the L shell to the that otherwise would appear as a characteristic
K shell in iodine, in which the K-shell binding x ray after an electron transition is transferred
energy is 34 keV and the L-shell binding energy to a orbital electron whose binding energy is
is 5 keV. A Ka characteristic x ray of 34 5 = - less than that of the characteristic x ray and
29 keY will be released (Fig 5). The nomencla- subsequently ejected. The kinetic energy of the
tune used to identify the characteristic x rays Auger electron is equal to that of the character-
is established such that the capital letter mdi- istic x ray minus the binding energy of the
cates the final destination of the cascading ejected electron. For
example, as an alternative
electron and the subscript Greek letter indi- to a Ka characteristic x-ray emission of 29 keY,
cates whether the transition occurred from an that energy may be used to eject an M-shell
adjacent or nonadjacent shell. For example, an electron with a binding energy of 0.6 keY
L0 characteristic x ray indicates a transition within the same atom. The Auger electron
from the M shell to the L shell, in which the would have a kinetic energy of 29 0.6 = 28.4 -
subscript a indicates that the origin of the cas- keY. Insofar as the electron binding energies of
cading electron was the adjacent M shell. A K, hydrogen and oxygen in tissue are very low
and the kinetic energy associated with Auger
electrons would be lower than the alternative
characteristic x-ray energy, both the character-
1.1
Bremsstrahlung
I Mo target
I
2
0iL
Photon Energy (keV)
Mass attenuation coeffIcient - Molybdenum Mass attenuation coefficient - Aluminum
srna
80
(cm/gm) 60 (cm2! gm)
40
2: \j< 0
Relative Relative
Photon
Intensity
2
- . . -
Ii I --_-__.
Photon
Intensity
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Photon Energy (key) Photon Energy (key)
Figure 6. Output spectrum of an unfiltered molybdenum (Mo) target at 30 kVp, with attenuation curves and
filtered spectra for a 0.03-mm molybdenum filter and a 0.5-mm aluminum filter directly below on the left and
right, respectively. (Redrawn, with permission, from reference 8.)
the absorption edge. At lower energies, the x- phantom that was imaged with both molybde-
ray photons are readily absorbed, and, at ener- num and aluminum filters (Fig 7).
gies just beyond the
K-absorption edge, in- The clinical impact of the x-ray energy spec-
creased attenuation due to photoelectric ab- trum can also be seen in Figure 8, which
sorption reduces the transmission of higher- shows mammograms of the same breast oh-
energy photons through the filter. A pseudo- tamed approximately 10 years apart. The
monoenergetic spectrum is thus achieved; this change in imaging techniques over the period
spectrum maximizes the subject contrast of results in substantial improvement in subject
the soft tissues of the breast with a minimal ra- contrast. The mammogram obtained in the
diation dose. early 1980s used 30 kYp. The higher effective
Aluminum is the material most commonly energy, together with screen-film technology
used for x-ray tube filters in radiography; how- of the era and absence of substantial com-
ever, molybdenum is used for mammography. pression resulted in reduced subject contrast
The K-absorption edge of aluminum is not at (Fig 8a). The contemporary mammogram was
the energy range of interest for mammographic obtained with 26 kYp. A lower tube voltage
applications, which results in suboptimal at- and more accurate automatic exposure control
tenuation of the spectrum, allowing increased results in a energy spectrum tuned to provide
transmission of high-energy photons and conse- a beam of lower effective energy (Fig 8b). A
quently a reduction in subject contrast (Fig 6). substantial improvement in subject and radio-
This effect is illustrated with a mammography graphic contrast is achieved
by enhancements
in screen-film technology, such as increasing
the gradient of the characteristic curve re-
sponse of the film and greater breast compres-
sion.
a. b.
incident
photon
(Negation)
A (Positron)
10
E
U 3
C
0 1
U
/TOt1
0
0
U
C
0 \ ,.-.- Photoelectric
0
C 1m...I..uI.__
Compton
Rayleigh<1
< 0.01
U) Pair
..
0.003
N
Figure 11. Graph plots the
Rayleigh, photoelectric, Compton,
0.001 pair production, and total mass at-
10 100 1,000 10,000 tenuation coefficients for soft tissue
Energy (keV) (Z 7) as a function of energy.
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