X-Ray Production, Interaction, and Detection in Diagnostic Imaging

Boone, John M.

doi:10.1117/3.832716.ch1

Book: Handbook of Medical Imaging, Volume 1. Physics and Psychophysics

Editor(s): Richard L. Van Metter; Jacob Beutel; Harold L. Kundel

Author(s): John Boone

Published: 2000

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.832716.ch1

Abstract

X rays and Y rays are forms of electromagnetic radiation that are energetic enough that when interacting with atoms, they have the potential of liberating electrons from the atoms that bind them. When an atom or molecule is stripped of an electron, an ion pair forms, consisting of the negatively charged electron (eâ) and the positive atom or molecule. X rays and Î³ rays, therefore, are forms of ionizing radiation, and this feature fundamentally distinguishes these rays from the rest of the electromagnetic spectrum.