Overview
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ABSTRACT
This article introduces the topic of X-ray imaging through the physics of photoelectric absorption and Compton scattering. It goes on to give definitions and properties of the various notions of dose (understood as physical (measured in Grays) or sanitary (measured in Sieverts), and it describes the principle and properties of X-ray sources and generating devices.
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Thierry LEMOINE: Technical Director Thales Microwave & Imaging Subsystems, France
INTRODUCTION
Radiography and radioscopy (or fluoroscopy) are the two oldest and most widespread medical imaging modalities. Their unrivalled ability to combine resolution and penetration of biological tissues means that they will remain, for decades to come, among the most important in terms of both number of radiology procedures and cost to healthcare systems. Understanding how X-ray imaging equipment works is therefore a necessity for users, and also for engineers thinking about improvements – especially as, like all imaging technologies, it is impacted by the emergence of digital technology, which offers prospects many of which have yet to be explored or exploited.
The first in a series of seven articles devoted to X-ray imaging, this article sets out some of the basic physics involved in understanding X-ray imaging, and looks at the various definitions given to the concept of dose, specifying a few orders of magnitude specific to medical imaging. Depending on the context, this common term designates X-ray fluence (incident or exposure dose), energy absorbed by tissues or by a detector (absorbed dose), or measures health impact (equivalent and effective doses). The third section describes how X-ray sources and their associated high-voltage generators work. We conclude with a few technological perspectives for this family of components.
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KEYWORDS
generation of X-Ray photons | dosimetry
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Healthcare technologies
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Medical X-ray imaging
Bibliography
Websites
National Institute of Standards and Technology – XCOM Photons Cross Sections Database http://www.nist.govhttp://www.nist.gov/pml/data/xcom/index.cfm
Xcom database http://www.nist.gov
...Directory
Manufacturers of X-ray sources and generators (non-exhaustive list)
Sources: VARIAN (US), TOSHIBA (J.), IAE (I.) PHILIPS, GE, SIEMENS, CARESTREAM (among others) manufacture sources for their own needs.
Generators: CPI (US), SEDECAL (E.), IMD (I.) Many OEMs design and build their own generators.
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The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference