Resident Physics Lectures: Radiography Geometry

Resident Physics Lectures
Radiography Geometry
Prof. J.K Tonui, PhD
School of Medicine,
Department of Radiology & Imaging
Learning Objectives
 At the end of this lecture, the student is expected to:
 Extend geometry of shadow formation by light to x-ray image
formation.
 Define the terms SID, SOD, IOD and their affects on X-ray image
formation.
 Understand how distortions are produced in x-ray images, and how to
reduce through geometrical considerations.

 Understand 5-geometrical considerations that produces detailed and
sharp radiographs.
2 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019
Introduction
 There two methods of image acquisition in radiography:
 Projection imaging,
o A single image is created for a 3D body, which
o Is a “shadow” of body section in a particular direction (integration
thro’ the body in the direction of x-ray beam).
 Tomography imaging,
o A series of images are generated, one from each slice of a 3D object in a
particular direction (axial, coronal, sagittal).

Projection Imaging
 Convectional radiography
 Is a transmission imaging procedure,
where
 X-rays emerge from the x-ray tube
placed on one side of the pt.'s body and

passes thro’ it as shown in this Fig. and
 Are detected on the other side of the
pt. by the screen-film detector.

Projection Radiography
 Fig.
 Shows complete
components of the x-
ray imaging system
for the projection
radiography.

 Projection imaging
 Produces a 2-D image of pt.’s 3-D anatomy, and
 Hence, tissue information spanning the direction
of x-ray beam are lumped together on the

radiograph, for instance
 A single chest radiograph superposes the images
(shadows) of tissues (lungs, spine, ribs, and the

heart) located on the path of x-ray beam and
requires careful interpretation.

Tomography Radiography
 In tomography procedures,
 Image of each slice is obtained by taking projection images along
different directions {(a) axial, (b) coronal, (c) sagittal}, and

 Then, images are reconstructed from projections (back projection, or
Radon transform).

Typical projection
Typical arrangement for radiograph
projection imaging

Geometry of Projection Radiography
 The primary effect of projection radiography
 Is to record an image of a 3D object (the pt.) in 2D, and
 As mentioned before, results in superposition of the anatomy
along each ray, which

 Leads to a number of effects that need to be considered in:
o Design of equipment,
o Production of the images and
o Interpretation.

Geometric Principles
 An x-ray image
 Is a shadow picture of an object placed in the path of x-ray beam;
i.e. between the tube anode and the film or other IR, and
 Appearance of image recorded is influenced by relative positions of
the object and film as well as the direction of the beam, and
 Hence, radiologists need to be familiar with the basic principles of
shadow formation , to aid them in interpretation of radiographs.

Comparison of x-rays and Light
 Since x-rays are EM waves like light,
 They form shadows in a similar way as light form shadows, but
 The analogy between light and x-rays shadow formation is not
perfect since
o All objects are transparent to x-rays to some extend, and
o Scattering presents greater problems in radiography than in optics,
but
 The good news is that the same geometrical laws of shadow formation
apply to both light and x-rays.

Shadow Formation
 Fig. A beside shows
 Light beam from a point source, L falling on a
white card board or screen, C, but

 With an opaque object, O interposed
between the light source and the card, where

 A shadow, I of the object is formed on the
I
surface of the card board as shown.

Shadow Formation
 Notice from Fig. in previous slide that
 Shadow cast is naturally enlarged because the object is not in
contact with the card, and
 The degree of enlargement varies according to the relative distances
of the object from the:

o Card or image called object-image distance, (OID) and
o Light source call source-object distance, (SOD).

Shadow Formation
 Image magnification, M gives the law governing the size of the
shadow is given by:

SI DI
M 
S O DO
 where
 SO is the size of the object,
 SI is the size of the shadow (x-ray image),
 DO the distance from source-to-object (SOD), and
 DI is the distance from source-to-image (SID).

Image Magnification
 Magnification of the image
 Occurs because the beam diverges from focal spot to the image
plane as shown in this Fig.
Notice from magnification Eqn., that

M
Is largest when the object is close
to the focal spot,
Decreases with distance from the
focal spot, and
Approaches a value of 1 as the
object approaches the image plane.

Shadow Formation
 Degree of sharpness of a shadow
depends on:
 Size of light source, and
 Position of object between light
source and the card (image), i.e.

o whether nearer to or farther from
one or the other as illustrated by

these images.

Shadow Formation
 For extended light source (not point
source )
 The shadows cast are not perfectly
sharp , but
o Form a penumbra ( B to D)
 Each point in the source of light casts its

own shadow of the object, and
 Each of these overlapping shadows is
slightly displaced from the others
o Producing a blurred image.

Shadow Formation
 Note that
 The shadow formation may also differ depending on the
angle that the object makes with the incident light rays, and
 This effect make the image shape to deviate from the true
shape of the object, which

 Is called distortion.

Effect of changing the size of the
Source on Image formation
 The conditions required to produce the
sharpest, and truest shadow of the object
are:
 Source of light should be small
o i.e. point source (small focal spot) should

be used ideally.
o Compare Fig. A and C.
 Source of light should be as far from

the object as practical.
o Compare Fig. B and C.
Effect of changing the relative positions of
source, object, and card.
 The conditions required to produce sharpest
and truest shadow of the object are:

 Film should be as close to the object as possible
(Compare Fig. B and D).
 Light rays should be directed arly to film
(compare Fig. A and E).

 Planes of object and film should be parallel
(compare Figure A and F).

Radiographic Shadows
 Principles of shadow formation
 Are applied in radiography in order to ensure satisfactory
sharpness and minimize distortion in the radiographic image,

but
 A certain degree of distortion will still exist (naturally) in
every radiograph, because
 Some parts will always be farther from the film than others.

Shadow Formation
 Note that
 Images of those parts
of pt. body far away

from the film are
magnified more than
those ones closer to
film,

Radiographic Shadows
 The shape of image
 Should always be similar to that of an object ideally, i.e. there
should be no distortion of shape;

 For example, a circular object should be produced as a circular
shadow, but
 It is possible that spatial (position) feature can be distorted, as
illustrated in the next slides.

Geometrical Distortion - shape
 Notice in this Fig.
 That two circular objects can
be rendered as either:
o Two circles (Fig. A) or
o Overlapping circles or
figure-eight shape Fig. B).
 Depending on direction of
rays.

Geometrical Distortion - shape
 Fig.
 Shows a tilted object
projected at a range of
angles, which
 Illustrate that increasing
degree of foreshortening
as the angle increases.
Effect of angulations on projected
length of an angled object

Geometrical Distortion - position
 Note that
 All objects are magnified by an
amount related to OID, where

 The further away from OID, the larger
the object appears, and

 In Fig., all objects A, B and C are same
size, but they appear progressively

Effect of depth of objects on
larger due to differences in position. their projected sizes

Shadow Distortion
 Distortion cannot be eliminated completely but
 By the use of appropriate source-film distance (SID), and
 It can be minimized until a point which the radiographic image
is not objectionable, but

 Considerable training and experience is required for Radiographer
to correctly choose the geometrical variables to image a given

section of interest.

Application to Radiography
 Application of geometric principles of shadow formation to
radiography leads to five general rules to be considered:

1. Focal spot (source where x-rays are produced);
2. Source-Body distance (SOD);
3. Source-Film distance (SID);
4. Film, and
5. Central Ray.

Focal Spot
 X-ray tube focal spot
 Is where x-rays are produced, and
 Its size should be as small (should be a point source ideally) as allowed

by other considerations (e.g. heat loading), because
 A large size focal spot,
o Is able to withstand large loads (heat production), but
o Cannot delineate as much details as a small-focus tube i.e. poor

resolution.

Focal Spot
 When a large focal spot is used, then
 The heat loading of the tube is optimized but compromises
image resolution, and
 Image resolution (details) is improved by using a long source-
film distance (SID), but
 It is advantageous to use smallest focal spot permissible for
exposures required.

Source-Body Distance
 Distance between anode (source) and body (SOD)
 Should always be as great as is practical, and
 Long SODs should always be used in imaging of thick body
parts, in order to
 Minimize unsharpness of body structures farthest from the film.
 At long SODs also,
 Radiographic definition/shapness is improved and
 The image is more nearly the actual size of the object.

Source-Film Distance
 When source-film distance (SID)
 Is decreased from a large value to a small value,
 Distortion of the image is observed to increase, and
 Is particularly evident at the edges of the body where the

distortion is greatest.
 Thus,
 The SID should be kept as large as it is permissible.

Object-Film Distance (OID)
 The film
 Should be placed as close as possible to body part being imaged, but
 In practice, film (in its cassette) is placed in contact with the body.
 As OID is increased from zero (i.e. contact),

 The image becomes larger, i.e. magnified, but
 The definition or sharpness begins to degrade.

Central Ray
 The central ray
 Should be as nearly -lar to the film as much as possible to
preserve spatial relations, and

 The central ray is used for positioning and
 Is produced from a lamp (visible light).
 As far as the shape of the body will allow,
 The plane of maximum interest (i.e. section of body being imaged)
should be parallel to the plane of the film.

Central Ray production
Focal Spot
 Generally Filter
X-ray beam
include filter
& light Light beam
Lamp
Mirror
X-ray & light

beams
CR
Shutters (only
1 set shown)

Central Ray production
 Central ray directed to the midpoint of the grid

Resident Physics Lectures: Radiography Geometry

Hochgeladen von

Dokumentinformationen

Originaltitel

Copyright

Verfügbare Formate

Dieses Dokument teilen

Dokument teilen oder einbetten

Freigabeoptionen

Stufen Sie dieses Dokument als nützlich ein?

Sind diese Inhalte unangemessen?

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

Resident Physics Lectures: Radiography Geometry

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

Resident Physics Lectures

 Extend geometry of shadow formation by light to x-ray image

reduce through geometrical considerations.

o A single image is created for a 3D body, which

o Is a “shadow” of body section in a particular direction (integration

thro’ the body in the direction of x-ray beam).

o A series of images are generated, one from each slice of a 3D object in a

particular direction (axial, coronal, sagittal).

3 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 Is a transmission imaging procedure,

placed on one side of the pt.'s body and

pt. by the screen-film detector.

4 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

5 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 Produces a 2-D image of pt.’s 3-D anatomy, and

 Hence, tissue information spanning the direction

of x-ray beam are lumped together on the

(shadows) of tissues (lungs, spine, ribs, and the

6 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 Image of each slice is obtained by taking projection images along

different directions {(a) axial, (b) coronal, (c) sagittal}, and

7 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

8 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 Is to record an image of a 3D object (the pt.) in 2D, and

 As mentioned before, results in superposition of the anatomy

along each ray, which

o Production of the images and

9 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 Is a shadow picture of an object placed in the path of x-ray beam;

shadow formation , to aid them in interpretation of radiographs.

10 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 They form shadows in a similar way as light form shadows, but

 The analogy between light and x-rays shadow formation is not

o Scattering presents greater problems in radiography than in optics,

apply to both light and x-rays.

 Light beam from a point source, L falling on a

white card board or screen, C, but

between the light source and the card, where

12 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 Shadow cast is naturally enlarged because the object is not in

contact with the card, and

 The degree of enlargement varies according to the relative distances

of the object from the:

o Light source call source-object distance, (SOD).

13 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

shadow is given by:

 SO is the size of the object,

 SI is the size of the shadow (x-ray image),

 DO the distance from source-to-object (SOD), and

 DI is the distance from source-to-image (SID).

14 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

Notice from magnification Eqn., that

15 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 Position of object between light

source and the card (image), i.e.

one or the other as illustrated by

16 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 Each point in the source of light casts its

17 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

 The shadow formation may also differ depending on the

shape of the object, which

18 RIB 810, 811 & 812 Imaging Physics 8/21/2019

o i.e. point source (small focal spot) should