IAEA Training Material on Radiation Protection in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology

RADIATION PROTECTION IN
DIAGNOSTIC AND
INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY

L 6: X Ray production

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International Atomic Energy Agency
Introduction

A review is made of:

• The main elements of the of X Rays
tube: cathode and anode structure
• The technology constraints of the
anode and cathode material
• The rating charts and X Ray tube heat
loading capacities

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Topics

• Basic elements of an X Ray source assembly

• Cathode structure
• Anode structure
• Rating chart
• X Ray generator
• Automatic exposure control

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Overview

• To become familiar with the technological

principles of the X Ray production

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IAEA Training Material on Radiation Protection in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology

Part 6: X Ray production

Topic 1: Basic elements of an X Ray source

assembly

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Basic elements of the X Ray source
assembly

• Generator : power
circuit supplying the
required potential to
the X Ray tube
• X Ray tube and
collimator: device
producing the X Ray
beam

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X Ray tubes

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X Ray tube components

• Cathode: heated filament which is the source

of the electron beam directed towards the
anode
• tungsten filament
• Anode (stationary or rotating): impacted by
electrons, emits X Rays
• Metal tube housing surrounding glass (or
metal) X Ray tube (electrons are traveling in
vacuum)
• Shielding material (protection against
scattered radiation)

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X Ray tube components
housing cathode

1: long tungsten filament

1: mark of focal spot 2 : short tungsten filament
3 : real size cathode
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IAEA Training Material on Radiation Protection in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology

Part 6: X Ray production

Topic 2: Cathode structure

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Cathode structure (I)

• Cathode includes filament(s) and associated

circuitry
• tungsten material : preferred because of its high
melting point (3370°C)
• slow filament evaporation
• no arcing
• minimum deposit of W on glass envelope
• To reduce evaporation the emission temperature of
the cathode is reached just before the exposure
• in stand-by, temperature is kept at ± 1500°C so that
2700°C emission temperature can be reached
within a second

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Example of a cathode

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Cathode structure (I)

• Modern tubes have two filaments

• a long one : higher current/lower resolution
• a short one : lower current/higher resolution
• Coulomb interaction makes the electron beam
divergent on the travel to the anode
• lack of electrons producing X Rays
• larger area of target used
• focal spot increased  lower image resolution
Focalisation of electrons is crucial !

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IAEA Training Material on Radiation Protection in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology

Part 6: X Ray production

Topic 3: Anode structure

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X Ray tube characteristics

• Anode mechanical constraints

• Material : tungsten, rhenium, molybdenum, graphite
• Focal spot : surface of anode impacted by electrons
• Anode angle
• Disk and annular track diameter (rotation frequency
from 3,000 to 10,000 revolutions/minute)
• Thickness ⇒ mass and material (volume) ⇒ heat
capacity
• Anode thermal constraints
• Instantaneous power load (heat unit)
• Heat loading time curve
• Cooling time curve
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Anode angle (I)

• The Line-Focus principle

• Anode target plate has a shape that is more
rectangular or ellipsoidal than circular
• the shape depends on :
• filament size and shape
• focusing cup’s and potential
• distance between cathode and anode
• Image resolution requires a small focal spot
• Heat dissipation requires a large spot

• This conflict is solved by slanting

the target face
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Anode characteristic

1 : anode track
2 : anode track

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Anode angle (II)

θ Angle θ ‘ Angle

Actual focal Actual focal

Incident electron spot size Incident electron spot size
beam width beam width
Increased
apparent
Apparent focal spot size focal spot size

Film Film

THE SMALLER THE ANGLE

THE BETTER THE RESOLUTION
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Anode heel effect (I)

• Anode angle (from 7° to 20°) induces a

variation of the X Ray output in the plane
comprising the anode-cathode axis
• Absorption by anode of X photons with low
emission angle
• The magnitude of influence of the heel effect
on the image depends on factors such as :
• anode angle
• size of film
• focus to film distance
• Anode aging increases heel effect

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Anode heel effect (II)

• The heel effect is not always a negative

factor
• It can be used to compensate for
different attenuation through parts of
the body
• For example:
• thoracic spine (thicker part of the patient
towards the cathode side of the tube)
• mammography

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Focal spot size and imaging geometry

• Focal spot finite size ⇒ image unsharpened

• Improving sharpness ⇒ small focal spot size
• For mammography focal spot size ≤ 0.4 mm nominal
• Small focal spot size ⇒ reduced tube output (longer
exposure time)
• Large focal spot allows high output (shorter exposure
time)
• Balance depends on organ movement (fast moving
organs may require larger focus)

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IAEA Training Material on Radiation Protection in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology

Part 6: X Ray production

Topic 4: Rating Chart

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Heat loading capacities

• A procedure generates an amount of heat depending on:

• kV used, tube current (mA), length of exposure
• type of voltage waveform
• number of exposures taken in rapid sequence
• Heat Unit (HU) [joule] :
unit of potential x unit of tube current x unit of time
• The heat generated by various types of X Ray
circuits are:
• 1 phase units : HU = kV x mA x s
• 3 phase units, 6 pulse : HU = 1.35 kV x mA x s
• 3 phase units, 12 pulse: HU = 1.41 kV x mA x s

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X Ray tube rating chart (I)

• Tube cooling characteristics and focal spot size

 {mA - time} relationship at constant kV
• intensity decreases with increasing exposure time
• intensity increases with decreasing kV
• Note: higher power  reduced exposure time 
reduced motion unsharpness

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X Ray tube rating chart (II)

• Manufacturers combine heat loading

characteristics and information about the
limits of their X Ray tubes in graphical
representations called Tube Rating Charts
• Example:
• Tube A: a 300 mA, 0.5 s, 90 kV procedure would
damage the system operated from a 1-phase half wave
rectified generator (unacceptable)

• Tube B: a 200 mA, 0.1 s, 120 kV procedure comply with

the technical characteristics of the system operated from
a 3-phase fully rectified generator (acceptable)
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X Ray tube rating chart (III)

X Ray tube A
700 1 φ half-wave rectified
3000 rpm 90 kV
600 1.0 mm effective focal spot
Tube current (mA)

500

400 70
kV 50
kVp
p
300 Unacceptable
9
120 k 0 kVp
Vp
200

100

0.01 0.05 0.1 0.5 1.0 5.0 10.0

Exposure time (s)

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X Ray tube rating chart (IV)

700
X Ray tube B
600 3φ full-wave rectified
Tube current (mA)

10.000 rpm 125 kV

500 1.0 mm effective focal spot
70
kV 50
400 p kV
90 p
kV Unacceptable
p
300
125 kV
p
200
Acceptable

100

0.01 0.05 0.1 0.5 1.0 5.0 10.0

Exposure time (s)
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Anode cooling chart (I)

• Heat generated is stored in the anode, and

dissipated through the cooling circuit
• A typical cooling chart has:
• input curves (heat units stored as a function of time)
• anode cooling curve
• The following graph shows that:
• a procedure delivering 500 HU/s can go on
indefinitely
• if it is delivering 1000 HU/s it has to stop after 10 min
• if the anode has stored 120.000 HU, it will take ≈ 5
min to cool down completely
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Anode cooling chart (II)

Maximum Heat Storage Capacity of Anode

240
c
/se
220 0 HU
Heat units stored (x 1000)

100
Imput curve
200 ec
/s
HU
180 500
160
140 U/ sec
350 H
120
ec
250 HU/s
100
Co
80 oli
ng
c urv
60 e
40
20
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Elapsed time (min)
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IAEA Training Material on Radiation Protection in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology

Part 6: X Ray production

Topic 5: X Ray generator

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X-ray generator (I)

It supplies the X-ray tube with :

 Current to heat the cathode filament
 Potential to accelerate electrons
 Automatic control of exposure (power
application time)
 Energy supply ≈ 1000 × X-ray beam
energy (of which 99.9% is dissipated as
thermal energy)

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X-ray generator (II)

• Generator characteristics have a strong influence on

the contrast and sharpness of the radiographic image
• The motion unsharpness can be greatly reduced by a
generator allowing an exposure time as short as
achievable
• Since the dose at the image plane can be expressed
as:
D = k0 . Un . I . T
• U: peak voltage (kV)
• I: mean current (mA)
• T: exposure time (ms)
• n: ranging from about 1.5 to 3

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X-ray generator (III)

• Peak voltage value has an influence on the

beam hardness
• It has to be related to medical question
• What is the anatomical structure to investigate ?
• What is the contrast level needed ?
• For a thorax examination : 140 - 150 kV is suitable to
visualize the lung structure
• While only 65 kV is necessary to see bone structure
• The ripple “r” of a generator has to be as low as
possible
r = [(U - Umin )/U] x 100%
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Tube potential wave form (I)

• Conventional generators
• single φ 1-pulse (dental and some mobile systems)
• single φ 2-pulse (double rectification)
• three φ 6-pulse
• three φ 12-pulse
• Constant potential generators (CP)
• HF generators (use of DC choppers to convert
50Hz mains into voltages with frequencies in
the kHz range)  “Inverter technology”

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Tube potential wave form (II)

kV ripple (%) Single phase single pulse

100%
Single phase 2-pulse
13%
Three phase 6-pulse
4%
Three phase 12-pulse

Line voltage 0.01 s

0.02 s
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The choice of the number of
pulses (I)

• Single pulse : low power (<2 kW)

• 2-pulse : low and medium power
• 6-pulse : uses 3-phase mains, medium
and high power (manual or automatic
compensation for voltage drop)
• 12-pulse : uses two shifted 3-phase
system, high power up to 150 kW

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The choice of the number of
pulses (II)
• CP : eliminates any changes of voltage or
tube current
• high voltage regulators can control the voltage
AND switch on and off the exposure
• voltage can be switched on at any moment
(temporal resolution)
• kV ripple <2% thus providing low patient exposure
• HF : combines the advantages of constant
potential and conventional generator
• reproducibility and consistency of tube voltage
• high frame rate possible

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IAEA Training Material on Radiation Protection in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology

Part 6: X-ray production

Topic 6: Automatic Exposure Control (AEC)

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Automatic exposure control

• Optimal choice of technical parameters in

order to avoid repeated exposures (kV, mA)
• Radiation detector behind (or in front of) the
film cassette (with due correction)
• Exposure is terminated when the required
dose has been integrated
• Compensation for kVp at a given thickness
• Compensation for thickness at a given kVp

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Automatic exposure control

X Ray tube
Collimator

Beam

Soft
Air tissue
Patient
Bone
Table
Grid
AEC detectors
Cassette

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Automatic exposure control

• Optimal choice of technical parameters in

order to avoid repeated exposures (kV, mA)
• Radiation detector behind (or in front of) the
film cassette (with due correction)
• Exposure is terminated when the required
dose has been integrated
• Compensation for kVp at a given thickness
• Compensation for thickness at a given kVp

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 IAEA Training Material on Radiation Protection in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology

Part 6: X-ray production

Topic 7: X-ray equipment operation and mode

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X-ray equipment operation mode and
application (II)
Radiography and Tomography
• Single and 3 φ generators (inverter technology)
• output : 30 kW at 0.3 focus spot size
• output : 50 - 70 kW at 1.0 focus spot size
• selection of kV and mAs , AEC
Radiography and Fluoroscopy
• Under couch equipment, three φ generator
(inverter technology) - continuous output of 300 -
500 W
• output : 50 kW at 1.0 focus size for spot film
• output : 30 kW at 0.6 for fluoroscopy (high resolution)
• priority given to contrast
• automatic settings of kV
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 X-Ray equipment operation mode and
application (III)

• Radiography and Fluoroscopy

• Over couch equipment, three phase generator (inverter
technology) - continuous output of at least 500 W
• output : 40 kW @ 0.6 focus size for spot film
• output : 70 kW @ 1.0 for fluoroscopy (high resolution)
• priority given to contrast
• automatic settings of kV
• Cardiac angiography
• Three phase generator - continuous output ≥ 1kW
• output : 30 kW @ 0.4 focus size
• output : 80 kW @ 0.8 focus size
• frame rate : up to 120 fr/s
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Summary

• The main parts of the system contributing to

the desired X Ray production:
• provide the required source of power
• deliver an appropriate X Ray spectrum
• ensure the optimum adjustment of exposure to
warrant the image quality

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Where to Get More Information

• Equipment for diagnostic radiology, E. Forster,

MTP Press, 1993
• IPSM Report 32, part 1, X-ray tubes and
generators
• The Essential Physics of Medical Imaging,
Williams and Wilkins. Baltimore:1994
• Manufacturers data sets for different X Ray
tubes

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