Center of Biomedical Engineering Medical Radiation Physics (Phys-2223)

Center of Biomedical Engineering
Medical Radiation Physics [Phys-2223]
By Nardos Hailu
Attenuation
• Is the removal of photons from a beam of x-rays or gamma rays as it passes through
matter
• Caused by both absorption and scattering of the primary

photons

• In low Z elements (e.g. soft tissues) attenuation dominated by:
- The photoelectric effect, at low photon energies (< 26 keV)

- Compton scattering at high energies
- Rayleigh with low probability
- Pair production at energies well beyond diagnostic and nuclear
radiology range
Linear Attenuation Coefficient (
• The fraction of photons removed from a mono-energetic beam of x-rays or gamma rays per unit
thickness of material
• Expressed in units of inverse centimeters (𝑐𝑚−1)
• The no. of photons removed from the beam traversing a very small thickness Δx can be expressed as:
n = μ N Δx
Where: n - no. of photons removed from the beam
N – no. of incident photons

• As the thickness increases, the relationship doesn’t stay linear
• Multiple calculations utilizing very small thicknesses of material (Δx)

would be required
• Otherwise, calculus employed

Linear Attenuation Coefficient
 Either thick or thin slab of a material,

N = 𝑁0 𝑒−𝜇
Where 𝑁0- number of incident photons
N – transmitted photons
x – thickness of a material
 Linear attenuation coefficient;
μ = μ𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑔ℎ + μℎ𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑖 +μ𝑡 +μ𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑟

 In diagnostic energy range, μ↓ with ↑energy except at absorption
edges (e.g. K-edge)
Linear Attenuation Coefficient
• For a given thickness, the probability of interaction depends on
the number of atoms the photons encounter per unit distance
• The density (ρ, in g/𝑐𝑚3) of the material affects this number

If the density is doubled, the photons will encounter twice
as many atoms per unit distance through the material
• μ ∝ρ

μ𝑎𝑡𝑟 > μ𝑖 > μ𝑎𝑡𝑟 𝑎𝑟
Mass Attenuation Coefficient
• For a given material and thickness, the probability of interaction is proportional to the number of atoms
per volume
• This dependency can be overcome by normalizing the linear attenuation coefficient for the density of the
material

• The linear attenuation coefficient, normalized to unit density, is called the mass attenuation coefficient,
in 𝑐𝑚2/g
mass attenuation coefficient = linear attenuation coefficient
density of the material
• The mass attenuation coefficient is independent of density
• Hence, 𝑚𝑎𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑟 = 𝑚𝑎𝑐𝑖 = 𝑚𝑎𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑟 𝑎𝑟 , for a given photon energy
μ = mac * ρ, for density other than 1g/𝑐𝑚3

Mass Attenuation Coefficient
• To use the mass attenuation coefficient to compute attenuation
N = 𝑁0 𝑒−𝜇 = 𝑁0 𝑒 − ( 𝜇 ) 𝜌
𝜌 0
• Because the use of the mac is so common, thickness is usually not

thought of as a linear distance x (in cm), but rather in terms of mass
per unit area ρx (in g/𝑐𝑚2)
• The product ρx is called the mass thickness or areal thickness

Half-Value Layer
 Is the thickness of material required to reduce
the intensity of a beam to one half of its initial
value
 Indirect measure of the photon energies
(quality), when measured under conditions of
narrow-beam geometry
 Narrow-beam geometry refers to an experimental
configuration that is designed to exclude
scattered photons from being measured by the
detector
 In broad-beam geometry, the beam is
sufficiently wide that a substantial fraction of
scattered photons remain in the beam.
Fikadu Mulugeta 22-Apr-18 9

Half-Value Layer
• The scattered photons reaching the detector result in an underestimation
of the attenuation coefficient (i.e. an overestimated HVL)
• Most practical applications of attenuation (e.g., patient imaging)

occur under broad-beam conditions
• The tenth-value layer (TVL) is the thickness of material necessary to

reduce the intensity of the beam to a tenth of its initial value
• The TVL is often used in x-ray room shielding design calculations

Half-Value Layer
• For mono-energetic photons under narrow-beam geometry conditions, the
probability of attenuation remains the same for each additional HVL thickness
placed in the beam
• Reduction in beam intensity can be expressed as (½), where n equals the

number of HVLs
E.g. the fraction of mono-energetic photons transmitted through 5 HVLs of
material is :
5
 ½ * ½* ½* ½* ½ = (½) = 1/32 =0.031 = 3.1%
• Therefore, 97% of the photons are attenuated

Half-Value Layer
• It is important to understand the relationship between μ and HVL
ln 2
HVL = 𝜇
E.g.

1. μ = 0.35 𝑐𝑚−1; HVL = 0.693/0.35 cm−1 = 1.98 cm
2. HVL = 2.5 mm = 0.25 cm; μ = 2.8 𝑐𝑚−1;
3. If a 0.2 cm thickness of material transmits 25% of a mono-energetic beam of
photons, calculate the HVL of the beam for that material

Ans: HVL = 0.1 cm

- HVL is a function of :

(a) photon energy, (b) geometry, and (c) attenuating material
Effective Energy
• X-ray beams in radiology are poly-energetic, composed of a spectrum of x-
ray energies
• HVL in diagnostic radiology characterizes the penetrability of the x- ray

beam
• HVL (mm Al) can be converted to a quantity called the effective energy
• It is an estimate of the penetration power of the poly-energetic x-ray beam,

expressed as the energy of a mono-energetic beam that would exhibit the
same “effective” penetrability
• Is 1/3 to 1/2 the maximal value for typical diagnostic x-ray tube
Mean Free Path
• We cannot predict the range of a single photon in
matter
• The range can vary from zero to infinity
• MFP: The average distance traveled by a photon

before interaction
1 𝐻𝑉𝐿
M FP = =
𝜇 ln 2
Beam Hardening
• Is the shift of the x-ray spectrum to higher effective energies as the
beam transverses matter
• The lower energy photons of the poly-energetic x-ray beam will

preferentially be removed from the beam while passing through
matter
• Low-energy (soft) x-rays will not penetrate the entire thickness of

the body

- Their removal reduces patient dose without affecting the
diagnostic quality
Beam Hardening
• X-ray machines remove most of this soft radiation with filters
- Thin plates of Al, Cu or other materials placed in the beam
• This added filtration will result in an x-ray beam with a higher effective energy and thus a
greater HVL
• The homogeneity coefficient is the ratio of the first to the second HVL and describes the
poly-energetic character of the beam

• The first HVL is the thickness that reduces the incident intensity to 50%, and the second
HVL reduces it to 25% of its original intensity

• As the coefficient approaches 1, the beam is essentially mono-- energetic
• A mono-energetic source of gamma rays has a homogeneity coefficient equal to 1

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Center of Biomedical Engineering

Medical Radiation Physics [Phys-2223]

• Caused by both absorption and scattering of the primary

- The photoelectric effect, at low photon energies (< 26 keV)

• Multiple calculations utilizing very small thicknesses of material (Δx)

• Otherwise, calculus employed

 Either thick or thin slab of a material,

μ = μ𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑔ℎ + μℎ𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑖 +μ𝑡 +μ𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑟

• The density (ρ, in g/𝑐𝑚3) of the material affects this number

• The mass attenuation coefficient is independent of density

• Hence, 𝑚𝑎𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑟 = 𝑚𝑎𝑐𝑖 = 𝑚𝑎𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑟 𝑎𝑟 , for a given photon energy

μ = mac * ρ, for density other than 1g/𝑐𝑚3

• Because the use of the mac is so common, thickness is usually not

• The product ρx is called the mass thickness or areal thickness

Fikadu Mulugeta 22-Apr-18 9

• Most practical applications of attenuation (e.g., patient imaging)

• The tenth-value layer (TVL) is the thickness of material necessary to

• The TVL is often used in x-ray room shielding design calculations

• Reduction in beam intensity can be expressed as (½), where n equals the

• Therefore, 97% of the photons are attenuated

• HVL in diagnostic radiology characterizes the penetrability of the x- ray

• It is an estimate of the penetration power of the poly-energetic x-ray beam,

• The range can vary from zero to infinity

• MFP: The average distance traveled by a photon

• The lower energy photons of the poly-energetic x-ray beam will

• Low-energy (soft) x-rays will not penetrate the entire thickness of

• A mono-energetic source of gamma rays has a homogeneity coefficient equal to 1

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