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cu un
atom si imprastierea fotonului
Energia de legatura a electronilor care a fost ejectata este atat de mica, in comaparatie
cu alte energii implicate, ca poate fi ignorata.
Putem face conversie intre lungimea de unda a unui foton si energia in kiloelectroni
volti folosind ecuatia de conversie:
Energia inferioara a fotonului imprastiat raportat la fotonul incident poate fi exprimata
ca fiind cresterea lungimii de unda a fotonilor imprastiati in raport cu lungimea de unda a
fotonului incident. Lungimea de unda a fotonului imprastiat lamda 2 este egal cu lungimea de
unda a fotonului incdent lamda 1 adunat cu Delta lamda (diferenta lungimilor de unda???)
Lungimea de und a fotonului mprtiat depinde de unghiul de mprtiere TETA n raport
cu traiectoria fotonului incidentului. Derivata dintr-o analiz de conservare a energiei,
schimbarea lungimii de und dintre fotonii incidenti i fotonii Compton mprtiati poate fi
exprimat prin urmtoarea ecuaie:
Pe masura ce energia fotonilor de incidenta creste, atat fotonii cat si elactronii difuzati
sunt imprastiati pe directia inainte (figura 4). Acesti fotoni sunt mult mai susceptibile pentru a
fi detectati de ctre imaginea receptoare, crescnd astfel expunerea total a receptorului de
imagine i reducerea observabilitatii contrastului. In plus, pentru un unghi de mprtiere dat,
fracia energiei transferat la fotonul mprtiat scade odat cu creterea energiei fotonice
incidente. Astfel, pentru fotoni de energie mai mari, cea mai mare parte din energie este
transferat electronului mprtiat prin efect Compton. De exemplu, la un unghi de
imprastiere de 60, procentul energiei fotonice imprastiate Esc cu cel al electronilor Compton
Ee- este 0,9 sau 90% la 100 keV dar aproximativ 0.1 sau 10% n 5 MeV.
Figura 4 Graficul ilustreaza probabilitatea imprastierii Compton in functie de unghiul
de imprastiere 20,80 si energia de 140keV a fotonilor in tesut. Fiecare curba este normalizata
la 100%.
Conservarea energiei i a impulsului dicteaza/impune anumite limite cu privire la
unghiul de mprtiere i transferul de energie. De exemplu, transferul maxim de energie al
electronului Compton (i astfel reducerea maxim a energiei fotonilor incidenti) are loc la
180 cu un foton retrodifuziat.
De fapt, energia maxim a fotonului mprtiat este limitat la 511 keV, care se
produce la un unghi de mprtiere de 90 i un maxim de 255 keV in timpul unuei retrodifuzii.
Aceste limite maxime privind energia fotonului sunt meninute chiar i atunci cnd fotonii de
energie mare (de exemplu, gama de energie terapeutica) interacioneaz printr-un fenomen de
imprastiere Compton. Unghiul de dispersie pentru electronului ejectat poate avea loc la orice
unghi de pn la 90 i mprtiat fotonului Compton ntr-un unghi de pana la 180 in cazul
retrodifuziei. Spre deosebire de fotonului mprtiat, practic toat energia electronului ejectat
va fi absorbit la nivel local.
O problem care implic difuzia Compton este prezentata pentru a consolida unele
dintre conceptele discutate anterior. Se consider un foton de 80 keV n curs de difuzie
Compton cu un nveli electronic exterior al unui atom de oxigen, cu o energie de legtur
mai mic de 10 eV. Prima ntrebare este "Care este energia minim a fotonului mprtiat", i
a doua ntrebare este "Care este energia maxim transferata la electroni ejectati prin efect
Compton."
Prin substituirea a 180 grade pentru teta (energia minima a fotonilor imprastiati) in
ecuatia (4), schimbarea lungimii de unda este 0,00486 nm.
By using Equation (2), the wavelength of an 80 keV photon is 0.0155 nm, which,
when added to the change in wavelength AX of 0.00486 nm, is 0.02031 nm. The scattered
photon energy is thus calculated as 61 keV by using Equation (2). Now, remembering that the
energy of the Compton ejected electron is equal to the difference between the incident and
scattered photon energies, one can readily see that the kinetic energy associated with the
Compton ejected electron is equal to 19 keY (80 keV -61 keV). This exercise illustrates an
important concept about the energy of the scattered photons.
Even with maximal energy loss, the scattered photons still have a relatively high
energy and thus a good probability of detection.
PHOTOELECTRIC ABSORPTION
Photoelectric absorption is another mechanism of x-ray attenuation important to
diagnostic immaging in which the incident photon interacts with a tightly bound electron
(typically one from the K or L shell). The x-ray photon is completely absorbed and the
electron is ejected (now referred to as an ejected photoelectron) with a kinetic energy equal to
the incident photon energy minus the binding energy of the ejected electron. For photoelectric
absorption to occur, the photon energy must be at least equal to or greater than the binding
energy of the electron that is ejected.
The ejected electron is most likely one whose binding energy is closest to, but less
than, the incident photon energy. After this interaction, the atom is left in an ionized and
excited state with a vacancy in an inner shell. An electron with a lower binding energy from a
nearby shell fills the vacancy, creating a more energetically stable atom. This transition
creates another vacancy, which is filled in turn by electrons from higher energy levels. Thus,
an electron cascade from higher to lower energy levels occurs. The difference in energy is
released as either characteristic x rays or Auger electrons.
Figure 5. Photoelectric absorption. Diagram shows a 100-keV photon undergoing
photoelectric absorption with an iodine atom. In this case, the K-shell electron is ejected with
a kinetic energy equal to the difference between the incident photon energy and the K-shell
binding energy of 34 keV or 66 keV. The vacancy created in the K shell results in the
transition of an electron from the L shell to the K shell. The difference in their binding
energies (ie, 34 and 5 key) results in a 29-keV Ka characteristic x ray. This electron cascade
will continue, resulting in the production of other characteristic x rays of lower energies. Note
that the sum of the characteristie x-ray energies equals the binding energy of the ejected
photoelectrons. Although not shown in this diagram, Auger electrons of various energies
could be emitted in lieu of the characteristic x-ray emissions. (Redrawn and modified, with
permission, from reference 8.)
To conserve energy during each electron transition, characteristic x rays are emitted with an
energy that equals the difference between the binding energies of the electrons from the initial
and fmal shells. Consider the transition of an electron from the L shell to the K shell in iodine,
in which the K-shell binding energy is 34 keV and the L-shell binding energy is 5 keV. A Ka
characteristic x ray of 34 - 5 = 29 keY will be released (Fig 5). The nomenclatune used to
identify the characteristic x rays is established such that the capital letter mdicates the final
destination of the cascading electron and the subscript Greek letter indicates whether the
transition occurred from an adjacent or nonadjacent shell. For example, an L0 characteristic x
ray indicates a transition from the M shell to the L shell, in which the subscript a indicates that
the origin of the cascading electron was the adjacent M shell.
A K, characteristic x ray indicates an electron transition to the K shell from a nonadjacent
shell (eg, the M shell).
Another form of energy dissipation is Auger electron emission. In this process, the energy that
otherwise would appear as a characteristic x ray after an electron transition is transferred to a
orbital electron whose binding energy is less than that of the characteristic x ray and
subsequently ejected. The kinetic energy of the Auger electron is equal to that of the
characteristic x ray minus the binding energy of the ejected electron. For example, as an
alternative to a Ka characteristic x-ray emission of 29 keY, that energy may be used to eject
an M-shell electron with a binding energy of 0.6 keY within the same atom. The Auger
electron would have a kinetic energy of 29 - 0.6 = 28.4 keY. Insofar as the electron binding
energies of hydrogen and oxygen in tissue are very low and the kinetic energy associated with
Auger electrons would be lower than the alternative characteristic x-ray energy, both the
characteristic x-ray photon and Auger electron emissions will be locally absorbed.
The benefit of photoelectric absorption is that there are no additional nonprimary photons to
degrade the image; however, the local deposition of energy increases the radiation dose in a
relatively small area, and this effect must be considered with respect to its impact on
dosimetry. The laws of conservation of energy dictate that the sum of the characteristic x-ray
and Auger electron energies equals the binding energy of the ejected photoelectron. The
probability of Auger electron emission increases as the atomic number (2) of the absorber
increases, and thus this process does not occur frequently for x-ray interactions in soft tissue.