Depth distribution of multiple order X-ray scatter

Scatter can significantly affect quality of projectional X-ray radiographs and tomographic reconstructions. With this in mind, we examined some of the physical properties of multiple orders of scatter of X-ray photons traversing through a layer of scattering media such as water. Using Monte Carlo techniques, we investigated depth distributions of interactions between incident X-ray photons and water before the resulting scattered photons reach the detector plane. Effects of factors such as radiation field size, air gap, thickness of the layer of scattering medium and X-ray energy, on the scatter were included in the scope of this study. The following scatter characteristics were observed: (1) for a layer of scattering material corresponding to the typical subject thickness in medical imaging, frequency distribution of locations of the last scattering interaction increases approximately exponentially with depth, and the higher the order of scatter or the energy of the incident photon, the narrower is the distribution; (2) for the second order scatter, the distribution of locations of the first interaction is more uniform than that of the last interaction and is dependent on the energy of the primary photons. Theoretical proofs for some of these properties are given. These properties are important to better understanding of effects of scatter on the radiographic and tomographic imaging process and to developing effective methods for scatter correction.