CHAPTER 8

X-RAY EMISSIONS

1. Emitted through a window in the glass or metal enclosure of the x-ray tube in the form of a spectrum of energies
Answer: x-rays

2. The x-ray beam is characterized by

Answer:
a. quantity (the number of x-rays in the beam)
b. quality (the penetrability of the beam)

3. The intensity of x-ray beam is called

Answer: X-ray quantity

4. Another term often used for x-ray quantity or x-ray intensity

Answer: Radiation exposure

5. The intensity of the x-ray beam of an x-ray imaging system is measured in _____
Answer: milligray in air (mGya) [formerly milliroentgen (mR)]

6. It is a measure of the number of ion pairs produced in air by a quantity of x-rays

Answer: mGya (mR)

7. Ionization of air increases as the number of x-rays in the beam_____

Answer: increases

8. Radiation exposure rate expressed as

Answer: mGya/s, mGya/min, mGya/mAs (mR/s, mR/min, or mR/mAs) can also be used to express x-ray intensity

9. X-ray quantity is the number of x-rays in the _____

Answer: useful beam

10. Most general-purpose radiographic tubes, when operated at approximately ______kVp , produce x-ray intensities of
approximately 50 μGya/mAs (5 mR/mAs) at a 100-cm source-to-image receptor distance (SID)
Answer: 70 kVp

11. The factors that affect x-ray quantity also affect ______ of the Image receptor similarly.
Answer: Exposure

12. What are the factors that affect x-ray quantity?

a. kVp
b. mAs
c. distance
d. filtraition

13. What is the relationship of x-ray quantity to mAs?

Answer: directly proportional

14. When mAs is doubled, what happens to the number of electrons striking the tube target and to the number of x-rays emitted?
Answer: doubled

15. Formula of X-ray quantity and mAs

Answer:

where I1 and I2 are the x-ray intensities

at mAs1 and mAs2, respectively

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16. A lateral chest technique calls for 110 kVp, 10 mAs, which results in an x-ray intensity of 320 μGya (32 mR) at the position of the
patient. If the mAs is increased to 20 mAs, what will the x-ray intensity be?
Answer:

17. The radiographic technique for a kidneys, ureters, and bladder (KUB) examination uses 74 kVp/60 mAs. The result is a patient
exposure of 2.5 mGya (250 mR). What will be the exposure if the mAs can be reduced to 45 mAs?

18. mAs is just a measure of the total number of _____ that travel from cathode to anode to produce x-rays
Answer: Electrons

mAs = mA x s
= mC/s x s where C (coulomb) is a measure of electrostatic charges
= mC 1 C = 6.25 × 1018 electrons

19. A radiograph is made at 74 kVp/100 mAs. How many electrons interact with the target?
Answer:
100 mAs = 100 mC
= 6.25 x 1017 electrons

20. If the radiographic output intensity is 62 μGya/mAs (6.2 mR/mAs), how many electrons are required to produce 10 μGya?
Answer:
62 μGya/mAs = 62 μGya/mAs/6.25 × 1015 electrons
Stated inversely,
6.25 × 1015 electrons/62 μGya/mAs = 1 × 1015 electrons/ μGya

21. X-ray quantity varies rapidly with changes in _____

Answer: kilovolt peak (kVp)

22. Describe the relationship of x-ray quantity to the kVp?

Answer: The change in x-ray quantity is proportional to the square of the ratio of the kVp

23. if kVp were doubled, the x-ray intensity would increase by a factor of _____
Answer: four (4)

24. Mathematically, the relationship of x-ray quantity to kVp is expressed as

Answer:
where I1 and I2 are the x-ray intensities
at kVp1 and kVp2, respectively

25. A lateral chest technique calls for 110 kVp, 10 mAs and results in an x-ray intensity of 0.32 mGya (32 mR). What will be the
intensity if the kVp is increased to 125 kVp and the mAs remains fixed?

26. An extremity is examined through a technique of 58 kVp/8 mAs, resulting in an entrance skin exposure (ESE) of 240 μGya. If the
technique is changed to 54 kVp/8 mAs to improve contrast, what will be the x-ray quantity?

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27. Theoretically, doubling the x-ray intensity by kVp manipulation alone requires an increase of _____% in kVp
Answer: 40%

28. What factor that affects X-quantity is not adopted clinically?

Answer: kVp

29. As kVp is increased, what happens to the penetrability of the x-ray beam and how many x-rays are absorbed in the patient?
Answer: Penetrability of x-ray beam increased; relatively fewer x-rays are absorbed

30. As kVp is _____, more x-rays go through the patient and interact with the image receptor
Answer: increased

31. To maintain a constant exposure of the image receptor, an increase of ___% in kVp should be accompanied by a reduction of
_____ in mAs
Answer: 15%; one half (0.5)

32. A radiographic technique calls for 80 kVp/30 mAs and results in 1.4 mGya. What is the expected ESE if the kVp is increased to 92
kVp (+15%) and the mAs reduced by one half to 15 mAs?

33. Increasing kVp and reducing mAs, what happens to the patient dose?
Answer: reduced

34. What is the disadvantage of increasing kVp and reducing mAs

Answer: reduced image contrast when screen film is the image receptor

There is no change in contrast when using digital image receptors

35. Describe the relationship of x-ray quantity to distance

Answer: X-ray intensity varies with the square of the distance from the x-ray tube target

This relationship is known as the inverse square law

36. The inverse square law is expressed as

Where I1 and I2 are the x-ray intensities at

distances d1 and d2, respectively

37. Mobile radiography is conducted at 100 cm SID and results in an exposure of 0.13 mGy a (13 mR) at the image receptor. If 91 cm
is the maximum SID that can be obtained for a particular examination, what will be the image receptor exposure?

38. A posteroanterior (PA) chest examination (120 kVp/3 mAs) with a dedicated x-ray imaging system is taken at an SID of 300 cm.
The exposure at the image receptor is 0.12 mGya (12 mR). If the same technique is used at a SID of 100 cm, what will be the x-
ray exposure?

39. When SID is increased, mAs must be increased by _____ to maintain constant exposure to the image receptor
Answer: SID2

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40. Compensating for a change in SID by changing mAs by the factor SID 2 is known as the _____, a corollary to the inverse square
law
Answer: The Square Law

41. The Square law is expressed as

where mAs1 is the technique at SID1, and mAs2 is the technique at SID2

42. What should be the new mAs in the previous question to reduce the x-ray quantity to 0.12 mGya at 100 cm?

43. X-ray imaging systems have metal filters, usually __ to __ mm of aluminum (Al), positioned in the useful beam
Answer: 1 to 5 mm Al

44. What is the purpose of filtration?

Answer: To reduce the number of low-energy x-rays

45. _____ energy x-rays contribute nothing useful to the image and only increase the _____ unnecessarily because they are
absorbed in superficial tissues and do not penetrate to reach the image receptor
Answer: low- energy x-rays; patient dose

46. Adding _____ to the useful x-ray beam reduces patient dose
Answer: filtration

47. Calculation of the reduction in exposure requires knowledge of _____

Answer: Half-value layer (HVL)

48. Disadvantage of filtration

Answer: Exposure reduction is not proportional to the thickness of the added filter but is related in a complex way

49. The disadvantage of x-ray beam filtration can be reduced image contrast when using screen film caused by _____
Answer: X-ray beam hardening

50. X-ray beam hardening increases the number of _____ energy x-rays in the beam by removing the _____-energy nonpenetrating
x-rays
Answer: high-enegy x-rays; low-energy x-rays

51. Refers to the ability of x-rays to penetrate deeper in tissue or pass through tissue
Answer: Penetrability

52. As the energy of an x-ray beam is increased, what happens to the penetrability?
Answer: increases

53. _____-energy x-rays are able to penetrate tissue more deeply than _____-energy x-rays
Answer: high; low

54. The penetrability of an x-ray beam is called

Answer: X-ray quality

55. X-rays with high penetrability are termed _____

Answer: high-quality x-rays

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56. X-rays with low penetrability are called
Answer: low-quality x-rays

57. Although x-rays are attenuated exponentially, _____ x-rays are more penetrating than _____ x-rays
Answer: high; low

58. Whereas 100-keV x-rays are attenuated at the rate of approximately ___%/cm of soft tissue, 10-keV x-rays are attenuated at
approximately ___%/cm of soft tissue
59. X-rays of any given energy are more penetrating in material of _____ atomic number than in material of _____ atomic number
Answer: low; high

60. Refers to the reduction in x-ray intensity that results from absorption and scattering
Answer: Attenuation

61. In radiography, the quality of x-rays is measured by

Answer: HVL

62. HVL is a characteristic of the _____

Answer: useful x-ray beam

63. A diagnostic x-ray beam usually has an HVL in the range of ___ to ____ mm Al or ___ to ___ cm of soft tissue.
Answer: 3 to 5 mm Al; 3 to 6 cm

64. The _____ of an x-ray beam is the thickness of absorbing material necessary to reduce the x-ray intensity to half of its original
value
Answer: HVL

The HVL is determined experimentally, with a setup consists of three principal parts
Answer:
a. x-ray tube
b. radiation detector
c. graded thicknesses of filters, usually Al

65. A radiation measurement is made with no filter between the _____ and the _____
Answer: x-ray tube and radiation detector

66. Measurements of radiation intensity are made for successively thicker sections of filter. The thickness of filtration that reduces
the x-ray intensity to half of its original value is the _____
Answer: HVL

67. The following data were obtained with the radiographic tube operated at 70 kVp, while the detector was positioned 100 cm
from the target with 1.0-mm Al filters inserted between the target and the detector. Estimate the HVL from observation of this
data. Then plot the data to see how close you were.
mm Al 0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
μGya 1.18 0.82 0.63 0.51 0.38 0.29
Answer:
One half of 1.18 μGya is 0.59 μGya; therefore, the HVL must be between 2 and 3 mm of Al. A plot of the data shows the HVL to
be 2.4 mm Al

68. HVL is the best method for specifying _____

Answer: X-ray quality

69. Different combinations of _____ and _____ can result in the same x-ray beam HVL
Answer: Added filtration and kVp

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70. Measurements may show that a single x-ray imaging system has the same HVL when operated at 90 kVp with 2-mm Al total
filtration as when operated at 70 kVp with 4-mm Al total filtration. In this case, what happens to the x-ray penetrability and
HVL?
Answer: remains constant

71. X-ray beam quality can be identified by kVp or filtration, but _____ is most appropriate
Answer: HVL

72. The ideally filtered x-ray beam would be _____energetic because such a beam would further reduce the patient dose
Answer: monoenergetic

73. It is desirable to remove totally all x-rays _____ a certain energy determined by the type of x-ray examination
Answer: below

74. To improve image contrast, it is also desirable to remove x-rays with energies _____ a certain level
Answer: above
Unfortunately, such removal of regions of an x-ray beam is not normally possible

75. Increasing filtration _____ the quality of an x-ray beam

Answer: Increases

76. Material of choice for filtration efficient in removing low-energy x-rays through the photoelectric effect and because it is readily
available, inexpensive, and easily shaped
Answer: Aluminum (Z = 13)

77. Other materials of filters used sparingly in special situations

Answer:
a. Copper (Z = 29) c. gadolinium (Z = 64)
b. tin (Z = 50) d. holmium (Z = 67)

78. As filtration is increased, so is beam quality, but quantity is _____

Answer: decreased

79. What are the two components of filters of the diagnostic x-ray beam?
Answer:
a. Inherent filtration
b. Added filtration

80. The glass or metal enclosure of an x-ray tube filters the emitted x-ray beam. This type of filtration is called
Answer: Inherent filtration

81. Inspection of an x-ray tube reveals that the part of the glass or metal enclosure through which x-rays are emitted—the
window—is very thin. This provides for _____ inherent filtration
Answer: low

82. The inherent filtration of a general purpose x-ray tube is approximately ____ mm Al equivalent
Answer: 0.5 mm Al

83. With age, inherent filtration tends to _____ because some of the tungsten metal of both the target and filament is vaporized
and is deposited on the inside of the window
Answer: increase

84. Special-purpose tubes, such as those used in mammography, have very thin x-ray tube windows, sometimes made of _____
rather than glass and have an inherent filtration of approximately _____ mm Al
Answer: beryllium (Z = 4); 0.1 mm Al

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85. A thin sheet of Al positioned between the protective x-ray tube housing and the x-ray beam collimator is the usual form of what
filtration?
Answer: added filtration

86. Added filtration results in _____ HVL

Answer: Increased

87. Total filtration consists of

Answer:
a. inherent filtration of the x-ray tube
b. added filter
c. filtration achieved by the mirror of the light-localizing collimator

88. The addition of a filter to an x-ray beam attenuates x-rays of all energies emitted, but it attenuates a greater number of _____-
energy x-rays than _____-energy x-rays
Answer: low; high

89. Added filtration shifts the x-ray emission spectrum to the high energy side, resulting in an x-ray beam with _____ energy, _____
penetrability, and _____ quality
Answer: higher; greater; better

90. The HVL increases, but the extent of increase in the HVL cannot be predicted even when the _____ of added filtration is known
Answer: thickness

91. Because added filtration attenuates the x-ray beam, it affects _____
Answer: x-ray quantity
This value can be predicted if the HVL of the beam is known

92. The addition of filtration equal to the beam HVL reduces the beam quantity to its prefiltered value and results in a _____ x-ray
beam quality
Answer: higher

93. An x-ray imaging system has an HVL of 2.2 mm Al. The exposure is 20 μGy a/mAs (2 mR/mAs) at 100 cm SID. If 2.2 mm Al is
added to the beam, what will be the x-ray exposure?
Answer:
This is an addition of one HVL; therefore, the x-ray exposure will be 10 μGya/mAs (1 mR/mAs)

94. Two sources of added filtration

Answer:
a. 1-mm or more sheets of Al are permanently installed in the port of the x-ray tube housing between the housing and
the collimator
b. With a conventional light-localizing variable-aperture collimator, the collimator contributes an additional 1 mm Al
equivalent added filtration. This filtration results from the silver surface of the mirror in the collimator

95. One of the most difficult tasks facing radiographers is producing an image with a _____ intensity when a body part is examined
that varies greatly in thickness or tissue composition
Answer: Uniform

96. Filter that compensates for differences in subject radiopacity; used in producing an image with uniform intensity or when a
body part is examined that varies greatly in thickness or tissue composition is called
Answer: Compensating filter

97. Compensating filters are nearly always constructed of _____, but plastic materials also can be used
Answer: Al

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98. During film-screen PA chest radiography, for instance, if the left chest is relatively radiopaque because of fluid, consolidation, or
mass, the image would appear with very low OD on the left side of the chest and very high OD on the right side of the chest.
One could compensate for this OD variation by inserting a _____ filter so that the thin part of the wedge is positioned over the
left side of the chest
Answer: wedge filter

99. The wedge filter is principally used during radiography of a body part, such as the foot, that varies considerably in _____
Answer: thickness

100. Thick portion of wedge filter is called

Answer: toes

101. Thin portion of the wedge filter is called

Answer: heel

102. Compensating filters are useful for maintaining _____. They are not radiation protection devices.
Answer: image quality

103. As mAs increases, what happens to x-ray quantity and image receptor exposure?
Answer: increases

104. As kVp increases, what happens to x-ray quantity and image receptor exposure?
Answer: increases

105. As distance increases, what happens to x-ray quantity and image receptor exposure?
Answer: reduced

106. As filtration increases, what happens to x-ray quantity and image receptor exposure?
Answer: reduced

107. As mAs increases, what happens to x-ray quality?

Answer: none

108. As kVp increases, what happens to x-ray quality?

Answer: increases

109. As distance increases, what happens to x-ray quality?

Answer: none

110. As filtration increases, what happens to x-ray quality?

Answer: increases

111. Approximate relationship between the kVp and HVL

kVp HVL
50 1.9
75 2.8
100 3.7
125 4.6
150 5.4

112. What are the three types of filtration?

Answer:
a. inherent filtration of the glass or metal enclosure
b. added filtration in the form of Al sheets
c. compensating filters, which provide variation in intensity across the x-ray beam

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