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Radiation Penetration
Rena Widita
When x- and gamma radiations are directed
into an object, some of the photons are
absorbed
scattered
completely penetrate the object.
The penetration can be expressed as the
fraction of radiation passing through the
object.
The amount of penetration depends on
the energy of the individual photons
the atomic number
density
thickness of the object
The probability of photons
interacting, especially with the
photoelectric effect, is related to
their energy.
Increasing photon energy
generally decreases the probability
of interactions (attenuation) and,
therefore, increases penetration.
High-energy photons are more
penetrating than low-energy
photons
PHOTON RANGE
When photons enter an object, they travel some
distance before interacting.
This distance can be considered the range of the
individual photons.
A characteristic of radiation is that all photons do
not have the same range, even when they have
the same energy.
In fact, there is no way to predict the range of a
specific photon.
A group of mono-energetic
photons entering an object.
Some of the photons travel a
relatively short distance before
interacting, whereas others pass
through or penetrate the object.
The relationship between the
number of photons reaching a
specific point and the thickness of
the material to that point is
exponential.
The nature of the exponential
relationship is that each thickness
of material attenuates the same
fraction of photons entering it.
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In a given situation a group of photons have different individual ranges
produce an average range for the group.
The average range = average distance traveled by the photons before they
interact.
Very few photons travel a distance exactly equal to the average range.
The average range of a group of photons is inversely related to the attenuation
rate.
Increasing the rate of attenuation by changing photon energy or the type of
material decreases the average range of photons.
Average Range (cm) =1/Attenuation Coefficient (cm
-1
)
The average range that photons penetrate a material is determined by the
same factors that affect the rate of attenuation: photon energy, type of
material (atomic number), and material density.
Average photon range is a useful concept for visualizing the penetrating
characteristics of radiation photons.
HALF VALUE LAYER
Half value layer (HVL) is the most frequently used quantity ore factor for describing both the
penetrating ability of specific radiations and the penetration through specific objects.
HVL is the thickness of material penetrated by one half of the radiationand is expressed in units of
distance (mm or cm).
HVL = 0.693 Average Range = 0.693/.
The number, 0.693, is the exponent value that gives a penetration of 0.5 (e
-0.693
= 0.5).
.
Aluminum has two significant applications
in an x-ray system:
It is used as a material to filter x-ray
beams
as a reference material for measuring
the penetrating ability (HVL) of x-rays.
The value of the attenuation coefficient
decreases rather rapidly with increased
photon energy and causes the penetrating
ability to increase
If the penetration through a
thickness of 1 HVL is 0.5 (50%),
the penetration through a
thickness of 2 HVLs will be 0.5 x
0.5 or 25%. Each succeeding
layer of material with a
thickness of 1 HVL reduces the
number of photons by a factor
of 0.5. The relationship between
penetration (P) and thickness of
material that is n half value
layers thick is
P = (0.5 )
n
Example
Photons of 60 keV have an HVL in lead of 0.125
mm. The problem is to determine the
penetration through a lead shield that is 0.5 mm
thick.
At this particular photon energy, 0.5 mm is 4 HVLs,
and the penetration is
n = thickness / HVL = 0.5 / 0.125 = 4
P = (0.5)
4
= 0.0625.
The following figure summarizes two
important characteristics of HVL. In a specific
material, the HVL is affected by photon energy.
On the other hand, for a specific photon
energy, the thickness of 1 HVL is related to
characteristics of the material, density, and/or
atomic number.
Determining HVL Values
Two items are required:
an instrument for measuring radiation
exposure
a set of aluminum absorbers (Typically,
the set includes absorbers with
thicknesses of both 0.5 mm and 1 mm)
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X-RAY BEAM QUALITY
quality = an x-ray beam's penetrating ability.
The penetration is different for each energy.
The overall penetration corresponds to the penetration
of a photon energy between the minimum and
maximum energies of the spectrum.
This energy is designated the effective energy of the x-
ray spectrum.
The effective energy of an x-ray spectrum is the energy
of a mono-energetic beam of photons that has the
same penetrating ability (HVL) as the spectrum of
photons.
The effective energy is generally close
to 30% or 40% of peak energy, but its
exact value depends on the shape of
the spectrum.
For a given KV, two factors that can
alter the spectrum are
the amount of filtration in the beam
the high voltage waveform used to
produce the x-rays.
FILTRATION
The selective attenuation of photons, according to their
energy, is referred to as filtration.
The penetration through two materials of special interest, a
1-cm thickness of muscle and a 1-mm thickness of
aluminum.
For photons with energies less than 10 keV, there is virtually
no penetration; all the photons are attenuated by the tissue.
Recall that the high attenuation coefficient value is the result
of photoelectric interactions
In the range of 10 keV to 25 keV, penetration rapidly
increases with energy.
As photon energy increases to about 40 keV, penetration
increases, but much more gradually. Of special interest is the
very low penetrating ability of x-ray photons with energies
below approximately 20 keV.
At this energy, the penetration through 1 cm of tissue is 0.45,
and the penetration through 15 cmof tissue is;
P = (0.45)
15
= 0.0000063.
On the other hand, the penetration through 15 cm of tissue
for photons with an energy of 50 keV is
P = (0.8)
15
= 0.035.
A significant portion (3.5%) of photons with an energy near 50 keV
penetrate a 15-cm-thick patient, whereas virtually no photons with
energies of 20 keV or less make it through. This means that low-
energy photons in an x-ray spectrum do not contribute to image
formation; they contribute only to patient exposure the tissue of
the body selectively filters out the low-energy photons.
A solution is to place some material in the x-ray beam, before it
enters the patient, to filter out the low-energy photons (In
diagnostic x-ray equipment, aluminum is normally used for this
purpose).
Most x-ray machines contain the equivalent of several millimeters
of aluminum filtration
Adding filtration increases the penetration (HVL) of an x-ray beam by removing the low-
energy photons.
The comparison of an unfiltered spectrum to
spectra that passed through 1-mm and 3-mm
filters.
Increasing the filtration of aluminum produces a
noticeable decrease in the number of x-ray
photons.
Most of this decrease is in photons with energies
less than approximately 40 keV these are the
photons with a low probability of penetrating a
typical patient and contributing to image
formation. They do, however, contribute to
patient exposure.
PENETRATION WITH SCATTER
In situations in which Compton interactions are significant, it is
necessary to modify this concept because some of the radiation
removed from the primary beam by Compton interactions is
scattered in the forward direction and creates the appearance of
increased penetration.
When significant forward-scattered radiation combines with the
penetrated portion of the primary beam, the effective penetration,
Pe, is given by:
Pe=P x S
where S is the scatter factor. Its value ranges from 1 (no
scatter) to approximately 6 for conditions encountered in
some diagnostic examinations.
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Beam area, or field size contributes to the
amount of radiation scattered in the forward
direction and hence to the value of S
body section thickness affects the size of the
scattered radiation source.
A third significant factor is KV. As the KV is
increased over the diagnostic range, several
changes occur.
A greater proportion of the photons that interact
with the body are involved in Compton
interactions, and a greater proportion of the
photons created in Compton interactions scatters
in the forward direction.
When the scattered radiation is more
penetrating, there is a larger effective source
within the patient.
At low KV values, most of the scattered radiation
created near the entrance surface of the x-ray
beam does not penetrate the body; at higher KV
values, this scattered radiation contributes more
to the radiation passing through the body.
PENETRATION VALUES
HVL values provide useful information about the penetration of a specific radiation in
a specific material.
When an HVL value is known, the penetration through other thicknesses can be
easily determined.
The table below gives HVL values for several materials related to diagnostic imaging.