How does an x-ray machine work?

Question 1

Power supply and tubehead

Answer 1

XPH
Xray tubehead - housing in which the xrays are taken
Position indicating device - allows to line up the xray unit to the proper location and distance from the patients mouth
High voltage power supply - powers up the xray unit

Question 2

Filament and electrons

Answer 2

Electricity > Heat > Electrons > Xrays
Circuit - heats up a filament which burns off electrons
Copper rod - for heat dissipation
Glass envelope - surrounds and insulates the entire assembly

Question 3

Attentuation and Receptor

Answer 3

attentuation - the thicker and denser tissue there is the less xray photons will actually make it through to the other side.
the receptor - traditionally a sheet of film that will process with various chemicals. now there are vinyl film pockets that can be processed by a scanner and also direct digital sensors that can process the image directly to a computer

Question 4

Xray waves and photons

Answer 4

xrays are high frequency, high energy waves. they are between ultra-violet radiation and gamma rays on the electromagnetic spectrum. all of these waves on the spectrum are packaged into energy particles called photons.

Question 5

Two types of ionizing radiation

Answer 5

1. electromagnetic

2. particulate

Question 6

What is ionizing radiation?

Answer 6

ionizing radiation is a form of energy that acts by removing electrons from atoms and molecules of materials that include air, water and living tissue in order to create ions, so this type of energy is considered invisible, odorless and weightless

Question 7

Electromagnetic radiation

Answer 7

• movement of energy as a combination of electrical and magnetic fields
• shorter wavelength = higher energy

Question 8

Particulate radiation

Answer 8

• atomic nuclei or subatomic particles moving at high velocity
• alpha and beta particles from radioactive decay are examples

Question 9

Two types of xray production

Answer 9

1. bremsstrahlung

2. characteristic

Question 10

Bremssrtahlung

Answer 10

brem = breaking
strahlung = radiation
- primary source of xray photons
- electon strikes a target and breaks giving off energy
- generates continuous spectrum of energy

Question 11

Characteristic

Answer 11

• secondary source of xray photons
• electron accidently knock into another electron and drops into a lower energy orbital
• emits a photon of specific energy

Question 12

Xray tube

Answer 12

Cathode (-)
- tungsten filament that produces electrons
- molybdenum focusing cup forces beam onto small focal spot
Anode (+)
- tungsten targert that converts electrons to xray photons
- copper stem dissipates heat

Glass= insulation 
Aluminium = filtration 
Lead = colimation