Assessment of quality control parameters for an X-ray tube using the monte carlo method and unfolding techniques

Abstract

Quality Control (QC) parameters for an X-ray tube such as Half Value Layer (HVL), homogeneity factor and mean photon energy, can be obtained from the primary beam spectrum. A direct Monte Carlo (MC) simulation has been used to obtain this spectrum. Indirect spectrometry procedures such as Compton scattering have been also experimentally utilized since direct spectrometry causes a pile-up effect in detectors. As well the Compton spectrometry has been simulated with the MC method. In both cases unfolding techniques shall be applied to obtain the primary spectrum. Two unfolding methods (TSVD and Spectro-X) have been analyzed. Results are compared each other and with reference values taken from IPEM Report 78 catalogue. Direct MC simulation is a good approximation to obtain the primary spectrum and hence the QC parameters. TSVD is a better unfolding method for the scattered spectrum than the Spectro-X code. An improvement of the methodology to obtain QC parameters is important in Biomedical Engineering (BME) applications due to the wide use of X-ray tubes.