Radiation and Health: X-ray Section
A look inside the Office of Radiation Protection at the Department of Health
Radiation is all around us. This form of energy appears more in some places than others. Some communities may be more at risk from radiation than others.
Throughout 2023, we will share how the Department of Health’s Office of Radiation Protection helps keep all people in Washington, and our environment, safe and healthy. Today, we look inside the Office of Radiation Protection’s X-ray Section.
What is an X-ray?
X-Rays may seem like magic, or mysterious. But did you know that X-rays are a form of light? Light comes in many varieties. We distinguish one from another based on the frequency of light waves. Visible light (the colors we see) has a frequency of 400 to 800 terahertz. X-ray waves have a much higher frequency than visible light. This higher frequency gives X-rays the ability to pass through solid objects much easier than visible light.
X-ray machines don’t come to us, so we send inspectors out to every machine in every care provider’s office in every county in the state.
X-ray Section Mission
Our X-ray Section’s mission is to ensure safety for patients, operators, and members of the public from overexposure to X-ray radiation, which can be harmful to human health.
We do that in several ways.
- We make sure machines are working properly.
- We follow ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) guidelines.
Checking the X-ray machines
In controlled amounts, like those used in medical settings, X-rays are very beneficial. The X-ray Section works hard to ensure that X-ray machines make the right amount and energy level of X-rays. Often this is referred to as “beam quality.”
Decades of study on the interaction between health and radiation led to the settings on X-ray machines, which make the machines safer. We do a series of tests to check X-ray device safety.
Two big parts of X-ray safety that we focus on when we check machines are:
- The force pushing electrons through a space (voltage).
- How many electrons flow through the space (amperage).
Voltage
If the energy (measured in kilovolts) of an X-ray machine drops too low, the patient’s body will absorb more X-rays than needed. Fewer X-rays will pass through the patient to the X-ray detector creating a poor image. The patient’s radiation dose is higher with little benefit. If the machine uses too much energy to make the X-rays, the images can be blurry, making it hard for medical professionals to read.
The X-ray Section takes several pictures using special radiation detection equipment to measure the accuracy of the machine kilovolts reported compared to those coming out of the machine. Any difference outside of a small amount shows something is wrong in the machine. Eventually, we do this with every X-ray machine in the state.
Amperage
The amperage tells us how many electrons flow through a machine to create the X-ray beam. Doubling the amperage will double the amount of X-ray radiation. In functioning machines, the ratio of amperage to radiation is consistent. When an increase in amperage doesn’t create a consistent increase in radiation, there’s something wrong with the machine.
When testing amperage, we run the machine at several amperage levels to see how much radiation is created.
Why is this so important? If the machine isn’t producing the right amount of radiation, you can get poor image quality.
ALARA
The X-ray Section, and radiology as a whole, operates on a principle called ALARA. Remember that in controlled doses, X-rays are beneficial. The ALARA principle tells us to use radiation to diagnose disease but do so in a way that the radiation exposure to patients is “as low as reasonably achievable.”
If you would like to learn more about the X-ray Program in the Department of Health’s Office of Radiation Protection, visit us online.
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More Information
Information in this blog changes rapidly. Sign up to be notified whenever we post new articles. For more information from the Washington State Department of Health, visit doh.wa.gov.
Questions about COVID-19? Visit our COVID-19 website to learn more about vaccines and booster doses, testing, WA Notify, and more. You can also contact the Department of Health call center at 1–800–525–0127 and press # from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday, and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday — Sunday and observed state holidays. Language assistance is available.
