%0 Journal Article
%T Design of a Microcontroller Based and X-Ray Waveform Independent kVp-Meter
%J American Journal of Biomedical Engineering
%@ 2163-1077
%D 2011
%I 
%R 10.5923/j.ajbe.20110101.07
%X The kVp setting is one of the major factors affecting the image quality in X-ray imaging and should be annually measured and calibrated if necessary. In this work, a kVp-meter is designed around the ATmega16 (Atmel) microcontroller, based on the physical principle that the linear attenuation coefficient of materials, namely copper has a smooth dependence on the energy level of the X-ray photons. Based on the logarithm of the ratio of the radiation intensities through 0.5mm and 1mm thick copper filters, a look-up table is generated in the range 60-120kVp. Logarithmic operation increased the precision at higher kVp values. Since sampling is performed over the exposure period in a continuous manner, the measurement is not affected by the X-ray waveform. A prototype unit was built and the performance was tested in terms of accuracy, precision and reliability.
%K kVp Meter
%K Linear Attenuation Coefficient
%K X-ray Imaging
%U http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.ajbe.20110101.07.html