Physical characteristics of scattered radiation in diagnostic radiology: Monte Carlo simulation studies

We applied Monte Carlo methods for the simulation of x-ray scattering in water phantoms. The phantom thickness was varied from 5 to 20 cm, and the monoenergetic incident x rays were varied from 15 to 100 keV. Eight screen pairs and a total absorption system were used as x-ray receptors. We determined the angular, spectral, and spatial distributions of the scattered radiation and the scatter fractions recorded in the image plane. The dependence of these properties on the incident x-ray energy, the phantom thickness, and the energy response of the recording system was examined. The results of this study provide useful information for the development of antiscatter techniques and for the evaluation of radiographic procedures.