Basic Radiology Physics Course

1. Introduction
   1. History and discovery of radioactive materials
   2. Definition of industrial radiography
   3. Radiation protection – why?
   4. Basic math review – exponents, square root, etc.
2. Fundamental Properties of Matter
   1. Elements and atoms
   2. Molecules and compounds
   3. Atomic particles – properties of protons, electrons and neutrons
   4. Atomic structure
   5. Atomic number and weight
   6. Isotope versus radioisotope
3. Radioactive Materials
   1. Production
      1. Neutron activation
      2. Nuclear fission
   2. Stable versus unstable (radioactive) atoms
   3. Becquerel – the unit of activity
   4. Half-life of radioactive materials
   5. Plotting of radioactive decay
   6. Specific activity – becquerels/gram
4. Types of Radiation
   1. Particulate radiation – properties: alpha, beta, neutron
   2. Electromagnetic radiation – X-ray, gamma ray
   3. X-ray production
   4. Gamma-ray production
   5. Gamma-ray energy
   6. Energy characteristics of common radioisotope sources
   7. Energy characteristics of X-ray machines
5. Interaction of Radiation with Matter
   1. Ionization
   2. Radiation interaction with matter
      1. Photoelectric effect
      2. Compton scattering
      3. Pair production
   3. Unit of radiation exposure – coulomb per kilogram (C/kg)
   4. Emissivity of commonly used radiographic sources
   5. Emissivity of X-ray exposure devices
   6. Attenuation of electromagnetic radiation – shielding
   7. Half-value layers, tenth-value layers
   8. Inverse square law
6. Exposure Devices and Radiation Sources
   1. Radioisotope sources
      1. Sealed-source design and fabrication
      2. Gamma-ray sources
      3. Beta and bremsstrahlung sources
      4. Neutron sources
   2. Radioisotope exposure device characteristics
   3. Electronic radiation sources – 500 keV and less, low-energy
      1. Generator – high-voltage rectifiers
      2. X-ray tube design and fabrication
      3. X-ray control circuits
      4. Accelerating potential
      5. Target material and configuration
      6. Heat dissipation
      7. Duty cycle
      8. Beam filtration
   4. Electronic radiation sources – medium- and high-energy
      1. Resonance transformer
      2. Van de graaff accelerator
      3. Linear accelerator
      4. Betatron
      5. Coulomb per kilogram (C/kg) output
      6. Equipment design and fabrication
      7. Beam filtration
   5. Fluoroscopic radiation sources
      1. Fluoroscopic equipment design
      2. Direct-viewing screens
      3. Image amplification
      4. Special X-ray tube considerations and duty cycle
      5. Screen unsharpness
      6. Screen conversion efficiency
7. Radiological Safety Principles Review
   1. Controlling personnel exposure
   2. Time, distance, shielding concepts
   3. As low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) concept
   4. Radiation-detection equipment
   5. Exposure-device operating characteristics

* Topics may be deleted if the employer does not use these methods and techniques.

Radiographic Technique Course

1. Introduction
   1. Process of radiography
   2. Types of electromagnetic radiation sources
   3. Electromagnetic spectrum
   4. Penetrating ability or “quality” of X-rays and gamma rays
   5. Spectrum of X-ray tube source
   6. Spectrum of gamma-radioisotope source
   7. X-ray tube – change of mA or kVp effect on “quality” and intensity
2. Basic Principles of Radiography
   1. Geometric exposure principles
      1. “Shadow” formation and distortion
      2. Shadow enlargement calculation
      3. Shadow sharpness
      4. Geometric unsharpness
      5. Finding discontinuity depth
   2. Radiographic screens
      1. Lead intensifying screens
      2. Fluorescent intensifying screens
      3. Intensifying factors
      4. Importance of screen-to-film contact
      5. Importance of screen cleanliness and care
      6. Techniques for cleaning screens
   3. Radiographic cassettes
   4. Composition of industrial radiographic film
   5. The “heel effect” with X-ray tubes
3. Radiographs
   1. Formation of the latent image on film
   2. Inherent unsharpness
   3. Arithmetic of radiographic exposure
      1. Milliamperage – distance-time relationship
      2. Reciprocity law
      3. Photographic density
      4. X-ray exposure charts – material thickness, kV and exposure
      5. Gamma-ray exposure chart
      6. Inverse square-law considerations
      7. Calculation of exposure time for gamma- and X-ray sources
   4. Characteristic (Hurter and Driffield) curve
   5. Film speed and class descriptions
   6. Selection of film for particular purpose
4. Radiographic Image Quality
   1. Radiographic sensitivity
   2. Radiographic contrast
   3. Film contrast
   4. Subject contrast
   5. Definition
   6. Film graininess and screen mottle effects
   7. Image quality indicators
5. Film Handling, Loading and Processing
   1. Safe light and darkroom practices
   2. Loading bench and cleanliness
   3. Opening of film boxes and packets
   4. Loading of film and sealing cassettes
   5. Handling techniques for “green film”
   6. Elements of manual film processing
6. Exposure Techniques – Radiography
   1. Single-wall radiography
   2. Double-wall radiography
      1. Viewing two walls simultaneously
      2. Offset double-wall exposure single-wall viewing
      3. Elliptical techniques
   3. Panoramic radiography
   4. Use of multiple-film loading
   5. Specimen configuration
7. Fluoroscopic Techniques
   1. Dark adaptation and eye sensitivity
   2. Special scattered radiation techniques
   3. Personnel protection
   4. Sensitivity
   5. Limitations
   6. Direct screen viewing
   7. Indirect and remote screen viewing

Total hours of instruction for this course: 20 hours