total amount of energy contained in the x-ray beam
intensity
number of photons in the beam. related to tube current(mA) and exposure time and less so by tube voltage
quantity
quantity x quality =
intensity of beam
how is quantity expressed
mAs
average energy the x-ray beam
quality
what is controlled primarily by the tube voltage (kVp)
quality
x-ray of beam is
heterogeneous
6 factors controlling the x-ray beam intensity
as the voltage of the tube increases:
1. number of photons
2. mean energy
3. maximum energy of photons
as the exposure time of the tube increases:
1. number of photons
2. mean energy
3. maximum energy of photons
as the tube current[mA] increases:
1. number of photons
2. mean energy
3. maximum energy of photons
selectively removes long wavelength (low energy) x-rays
filtration (made of aluminum)
total filtration =
inherent filtration + added filtration
inherent filtration:
1
2
3
4
added filtration:
1
as filtration increases:
1. number of photons
2. mean energy
3. maximum energy of photons
this restricts the size and shape of the beam
collimation
collimation:
1. number of photons
2. mean energy
3. maximum energy of photons
intensity of the beam varies inversely to the square of the source-to-receptor distance
inverse square law
inverse square law- one method of calculating the new beam intensity when changing the source-to-receptor distance
as source-to-receptor distance increases:
1. number of photons
2. mean energy
3. maximum energy of photons
altered by factors affecting quantity of the beam
density
altered by factors affecting the quality of the beam
contrast
amount of blackness of an image
density