Radiographic Filtration Research

Usually, the lower-energy x-ray photons have the tendency of scattering thereby increasing the possibility of disorganizing the resultant product. The metal sheets are put between the window and the target in line with the x-ray beam so that to reduce the effect of the low energy x-ray. Therefore, to regulate the amount of patient dose and maintain the quality of the image, the otherwise scattering low energy x-rays need to be removed from the spectrum (Carroll, Fuchs & Carroll, 2003). In cases where the low-energy x-ray photons remain unfiltered, they end up being retained in the patient’s body, hence; contributing to the entrance surface dose. Due to the absorption of these low-energy x-ray photons by the organs, their impact on the final image is minimal (Shephard, 2003).

Inherent Filtration It constitutes the x-ray tube casing and makes a significant part of the x-ray tube, for example, cooling oil, window, and housing. The housing is essential in filtering the emerging beam. In x-ray tubes used during medical radiography, the envelope glass is usually 0. 5 mm Al (Pal'chikov, 1997). Aging leads to vaporization of more tungsten that ends up accumulating inside the tube thereby adding to filtration. Operators usually add filters to the x-ray beam to offset the differences in the type of material used or object tissue density. Compensating filtration uses Nolan filter system (Shephard, 2003). If some areas of the subject exhibit higher differences in their tissue density, then compensating filters are employed to decrease the level of exposure in places that have a lower density.

In medical radiography, compensating filtration is significant in ensuring the patient is exposed to limited rays and the quality of the resultant image is exponentially maximized. Compensating filtration is usually used when the spine is subjected to x-rays (Shephard, 2003). Nonetheless, it is notable that some useful rays can end up being absorbed by the filter, which decreases the radiographic density. Increasing radiographic filtration necessitates the increase of exposure elements so that to ensure that all the receptors have the same level of exposure. Beyond 3. 0 mm Al filtration hits the point of diminishing returns (Price, 1982). This implies that decreasing the dose does motivate the operators to maximize tube-loading. Usually, the dose reference level is a minimal amount of x-rays that are needed to give the details of a particular indication and have been approved by existing radiological assessment.

In particular, situations, maximizing filtration is important because it removes low-energy x-ray protons that may not be possible while using equipment that carries out different kinds of examinations. According to Malott and Fodor (1993), it is recommended that total filtration be at least 2. 5 mm Al in all equipment that are used for radiological assessments. Carroll (2007) argues that it adding filtration to the x-ray beam is a central way of decreasing the amount of radiations that a patient can be exposed to during radiodiagnosis. Besides, according to Carroll (2007), a combination of copper and aluminum filter gave a significant reduction in dose without affecting the image contrast. Effects of Increasing the Amount of Filtration of the Beam First, increasing the amount of filtration increases the beam quality.