Physical principles and radiation dose in mammography

All radioactive nuclides emit high-energy particles or electromagnetic waves. When this radiation encounters living cells, it can cause heating, break chemical bonds, or ionize molecules. The most serious biological damage results when these radioactive emissions fragment or ionize molecules. For example, α and β particles emitted from nuclear decay reactions possess much higher energies than ordinary chemical bond energies. When these particles strike and penetrate matter, they...

German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen (1845–1923) was experimenting with electrical current when he discovered that a mysterious and invisible "ray" would pass through his flesh but leave an outline of his bones on a screen coated with a metal compound. In 1895, Röntgen made the first durable record of the internal parts of a living human: an "X-ray" image (as it came to be called) of his wife’s hand. Scientists worldwide quickly began their own experiments with...

The rate of heat transfer by emitted radiation is described by the Stefan-Boltzmann law of radiation:

Radiological investigations, including X-rays and computed tomography (CT) scans, are critical for diagnosing and evaluating various medical conditions. These imaging techniques provide valuable insights into the body's internal structures, aiding in the detection of abnormalities, assessment of disease progression, and development of treatment strategies. This article delves into two primary radiological investigations, chest X-rays and CT scans, outlining their purpose, procedures, and...

Electromagnetic (EM) radiation consists of electric and magnetic field components oscillating in planes perpendicular to each other and mutually perpendicular to radiation propagation through space. EM radiation can be classified as a wave, characterized by the properties of waves such as wavelength (denoted as λ) and frequency (represented by ν).
Wavelength is the distance between two consecutive peaks (the highest point) or troughs (the lowest point) in the wave. Frequency is the number of...

The electromagnetic spectrum consists of all the types of electromagnetic radiation arranged according to their frequency and wavelength. Each of the various colors of visible light has specific frequencies and wavelengths associated with them, and you can see that visible light makes up only a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Because the technologies developed to work in various parts of the electromagnetic spectrum are different, for reasons of convenience and historical...