Simulation of multispectral x-ray imaging scenarios by Wien shift optical spectroscopy

• The acquisition of multispectral x-ray images and the treatment of such data are essential for understanding many devices that we encounter in everyday life. Examples include computerized tomography in hospitals and scanners at airports. X-ray devices remain impractical for undergraduate laboratories because of their considerable cost and the risk of exposure to ionizing radiation. One way to acquire spectral information and thus constituent-discriminating data in x-ray imaging is to alter the spectral contents of the illuminating x-ray source, which can be achieved by changing the x-ray tube voltage and thus energetically displacing the bremsstrahlung. A similar effect occurs in the emission from a black-body radiator in the optical and infrared regions when altering the temperature. We illustrate how to simulate the x-ray scenario with a webcam and an ordinary light bulb. Insight into how chemical and physical information regarding objects can be obtained in multispectral imaging supported by multivariate analysis is gained.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Atom- och molekylfysik och optik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

physics education

Wien effect

X-ray spectra

X-ray imaging

computerised tomography

laboratories

SoTL

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)