We’ve set up a simple demonstration using a paper wall, an X-ray sensor, and a flashlight to illustrate the process. By understanding how X-ray photons interact with different materials, you’ll gain insight into how these images are formed. Whether you’re exploring dense materials like steel or lighter substances such as films, the energy of X-ray photons plays a crucial role in image creation. Join us for a quick journey into the fascinating world of X-ray imaging. Don’t forget to subscribe for more insightful content.
Ever wonder how an extra year we just created? Check this out. So you put together this quick set up here to show you how x three images are created in this example, this piece of paper against the wall represents our x-ray sensor, and this black rectangle here is the active area. So the area of the sensor that’s actually collecting an x-ray image, and this flashlight is our x-resource.
So what we’re going to do here is to point our x-resource towards the x-ray sensor and we’re going to put a sample, in this case, my hand, in between the x-resource and the x-ray sensor. And as you can see, there is a shadow projected on the sample on the sensor, and that’s my x-ray image.
Right. And that’s where, in the old days, x-ray images were called shadowgrams. Basically, they were shadows of the x-ray photons that hit the x-ray sensor. Now, what’s actually happening here, very similar to these photons from the flashlight, is that the X-ray image is nothing but a representation of the density of the sample because the x-ray photons that stop on the sample, in this case, my hand, do not reach the active area of the x-ray sensor.
On the other hand, the x-ray photons that go around my hand do reach the x-ray sensor, projecting positive energy onto the pixels of the x-ray sensor. That’s the way x-ray images are formed because depending on the density of your sample, more or fewer x-ray photons are going to be stopped.
The more x-ray photons are stopped, the darker the x-ray image because it creates more of a shadow. The lighter the actual sample, like air in this case, the more x-ray photos are going to pass through and reach the active area, ensuring those pixels. That’s why x-ray image inspection is a very powerful tool to look for the density of the sample.
And you can see through objects. In this case, if this was an actual x-ray machine, we would just see the bones on my hand because the flesh is much lighter than bones. So basically, the bones are going to stop a bunch of x-ray photons, and the flesh is going to let most of the x-ray photos go through.
Now, the all-important feature for you to recognize is that depending on the energy of the x-ray photons, they will have a higher or lower probability to go through matter. The higher the energy of the x-ray photon, for example, 130 kV instead of 90 kV, the higher the probability that the photon is going to go through my sample.
That’s why when we’re talking to customers about what kind of x-ray energy they need in their x-ray machines, we look at what samples they have. If it’s a dense sample, you might need a higher-power x-ray source. If you have a lower density sample like seeds or films, you might need a lower-power x-ray source.
In an example, if a higher density sample would be copper or steel or materials that will, with a high probability, stop the x-ray photons from traveling. So that’s it in a short amount of time, how an x-ray image is created from the x-resource to the x-ray sensor and a sample in between projecting that shadow.
Thanks very much for watching, and don’t forget to subscribe.
Dr. Bill Cardoso – Founder and CEO of Creative Electron.