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Title: Laplace Transform pair model to determine bremsstrahlung spectra from attenuation data

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:5793007

This investigation presents a mathematical pair model, grounded in physical reality by the Laplace Transformation, to describe the attenuation of a photon beam and the corresponding bremsstrahlung spectral distribution. In addition the Laplace model has been mathematically extended to include characteristic radiation in a physically meaningful way. A method to determine the fraction of characteristic radiation in any diagnostic x-ray beam was introduced for use with the extended model. This work has examined the reconstructive capability of the Laplace pair model for a photon beam range of from 50 kVp to 25 MV, using both theoretical and experimental methods. In the diagnostic region, excellent agreement between a wide variety of experimental spectra and those reconstructed with the Laplace model was obtained when the atomic composition of the attenuators was accurately known. The model successfully reproduced a 2 MV spectrum but demonstrated difficulty in accurately reconstructing orthovoltage and 6 MV spectra. The 25 MV spectrum was successfully reconstructed although poor agreement with the spectrum obtained by Levy was found.

Research Organization:
Texas Univ., Houston (USA). School of Public Health
OSTI ID:
5793007
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English