Which statement describes the effect of increasing beam filtration on the X-ray beam?

Which statement describes the effect of increasing beam filtration on the X-ray beam?

• A. Increases beam quantity and decreases beam quality
• B. Reduces beam quantity but increases beam quality
• C. Increases both beam quantity and beam quality
• D. Reduces both beam quantity and beam quality

Answer: (B)

Increasing beam filtration removes the lowest-energy photons from the X-ray beam. Those soft photons contribute little to image formation but add dose, so taking them out hardens the beam. As a result, the total number of photons that reach the image receptor drops (beam quantity decreases), while the remaining photons have a higher average energy (beam quality increases). That’s why the statement describing reduced quantity with improved quality is the best fit. If you need the same receptor exposure after adding filtration, you’d usually increase technique (mA or exposure time) to compensate.

Increasing beam filtration removes the lowest-energy photons from the X-ray beam. Those soft photons contribute little to image formation but add dose, so taking them out hardens the beam. As a result, the total number of photons that reach the image receptor drops (beam quantity decreases), while the remaining photons have a higher average energy (beam quality increases). That’s why the statement describing reduced quantity with improved quality is the best fit. If you need the same receptor exposure after adding filtration, you’d usually increase technique (mA or exposure time) to compensate.