The story so far…

Radiographic Sources
 Film-Screen Imaging

• Traditionally, all X-ray image capture has been

through X-ray film

Emulsion

Adhesive Protective
layer Film base layer

Emulsion
 Film
• Polyester film base gives mechanical strength to the film –
does not react to X rays

• Emulsion consists of silver halide grains (AgBr)

• The image is formed by the reaction of AgBr grains to X-ray photons

• The sensitivity of the film depends on number of grains

• Must be evenly distribution

• Typically each crystal is about 1 μm in size

• larger grains = more sensitive (contrast),
• smaller grain = better resolution
• Adhesive layer ensures emulsion stays firmly attached to
base
• Protective layer prevents mechanical damage
 Optical Density
• Optical Density: the amount
of blackening in the film
• Defined as the log of the
ratio of the intensities of the
incident and transmitted
light
• log is used as the eyes
response is logarithmic
So far so good……..
The characteristic curve
 H (Hurter) and D (Driffield) curve,
The characteristic curve D log E curve or sensitometric
curve
Optical
density • Plotting OD against log
Saturation relative exposure gives the
Linear region, Characteristic Curve of the
X-ray film

• Different types of film –

subtle differences but all
basically the same
Fog
Log relative exposure
Generally in the range
0.15-0.2
Linear portion:
Useful part of the curve in
which optical density
(blackening) is proportional
to the log of X-ray exposure

The gradient of the linear

portion determines contrast
in an image and the
exposures must lie within this
region
USEFULNESS OF CHARACTERISTIC CURVES

To determine

•Speed

•Gradient of the film (Film contrast)

•Type of film
 SPEED

Relative speed of film A is four times that of Film C is eight times faster than film B, or
film B, or has a relative speed of 400. has a relative speed of 800
Factors affecting speed

• Size of grains – larger means faster

• This is the main factor and conflicts with the need for
small crystals to give good image sharpness.

• Thickness of emulsion
• Double layers of emulsion give faster films

• (X-ray energy)
 Contrast

The contrast seen on a radiograph is known as radiographic

contrast and is composed of two factors:

 Subject contrast: which is the result of variations in the

amount of radiation absorbed by the test piece and which
causes variations in radiation intensity impinging on the film.

 Film gradient (or film contrast): which is a measure of the

response of the emulsion to the intensity of impinging
radiation and is a characteristic of a given film.
Film contrast

Film gradient, also called film contrast, is a measure of the slope of the
characteristic curve.

If the difference is great, the gradient (contrast) is said to be high.

If the difference is slight, the gradient is said to be low.

It is often more convenient to express
gradient as an average over a given
useful range of densities than for a
single density.
Film contrast
Also, relative exposure values (unitless)
are often used.

Relative exposure is the ratio of two

exposures.

For example, if one film is exposed at 100

keV for 6mAmin and a second film is
exposed at the same energy for 3mAmin,
then the relative exposure would be 2.
Adjusting the Exposure to Produce a Different Film Density

Suppose Film B was exposed with

140 keV at 1mA for 10 seconds
(Exposure 10 mAs)

Density :1

Target density: 2.5

Difference: 2.12-1.62=0.5

Antilog of 0.5=3.16

The new exposure to produce 2.5

density is 3.16x10 mAs at 140 keV)
Adjusting the Exposure to Allow Use of a Different Film Type

Film A for 30 seconds at 1mA and

130 keV to produce desity 2.5

Relative exposure of film B is twice

that of film A

Exposure required : 30 mAs x 2.05

61.5 mAs
Recap……
EXPOSURE
CHARTS
Relations of Milliamperage (source strength),
Distance and Time

For a given exposure time and kV

SFD or FFD ------- Source film distance or Focus film distance

Time-Distance Relation

Rule: The exposure time (T) required for a given exposure is directly
proportional to the square of the focus-film distance (D). Thus:

For a given milliamperage and kV

Milliamperage-Time Relation

Rule: The milliamperage (M) required for a given exposure is

inversely proportional to the time (T):

Thus, M1T1 = M2T2 = M3T3 = C, a constant.

This is commonly referred to as the reciprocity law.

Inverse-Square Law
The intensity, or amount of radiation falling on a unit
area per unit time, varies inversely with the square of
the distance from the source. This can be expressed
mathematically as:
 An exposure chart is a graph
showing the relation between
material thickness,
kilovoltage, and exposure.

Any given exposure chart applies to a set of specific conditions. These fixed conditions
are:
1. The x-ray machine used
2. Material
3. A certain source-film distance
4. A particular film type
5. Processing conditions used
6. The film density on which the chart is based
7. The type of screens (if any) that are used
 Step-wedge

1. Make a series of radiographs

2. Process the exposed films together under identical conditions.

3. From the several densities, choose density.

4. Using the thickness determined in step 3 and the tube voltage (kilovoltage)
and exposure (milliampsecond or milliampmin) corresponding to that piece of
film, plot the relation of thickness to exposure on semilogarithmic paper with
exposure on the logarithmic scale

5. Draw lines of constant tube voltage through the corresponding points on the
graph
Gamma-Ray Exposure Charts

With gamma rays, there is no variable

factor corresponding to the kilovoltage.

Therefore, a gamma-ray exposure chart

contains one line, or several parallel lines,
each of which corresponds to a particular
film type, film density, or source-film
distance.