Which statement is true regarding aluminum filtration and receptor exposure?

Which statement is true regarding aluminum filtration and receptor exposure?

• A. Increased filtration increases receptor exposure
• B. Increased filtration decreases receptor exposure
• C. Filtration has no effect on receptor exposure
• D. Filtration only affects patient dose, not receptor exposure

Answer: (B)

Increasing aluminum filtration removes low-energy photons from the x-ray beam. Those low-energy photons contribute little to image formation and are largely absorbed by the patient, so filtering them out reduces the total number of photons that reach the image receptor. Even though the remaining photons are higher in energy, there are fewer of them, so receptor exposure decreases. This is why the statement about filtration reducing receptor exposure is the best choice. Filtration does affect receptor exposure (not no effect), and it can also lower patient dose, so the other ideas don’t fit.

Increasing aluminum filtration removes low-energy photons from the x-ray beam. Those low-energy photons contribute little to image formation and are largely absorbed by the patient, so filtering them out reduces the total number of photons that reach the image receptor. Even though the remaining photons are higher in energy, there are fewer of them, so receptor exposure decreases. This is why the statement about filtration reducing receptor exposure is the best choice. Filtration does affect receptor exposure (not no effect), and it can also lower patient dose, so the other ideas don’t fit.