What is the purpose of adding an aluminum equivalent filter to the tubehead?

Adding an aluminum equivalent filter to the tubehead serves the primary purpose of removing soft x-rays. Soft x-rays, which have low energy, are less penetrating and do not contribute effectively to the quality of diagnostic images; instead, they can increase the patient's radiation dose without providing significant benefits for imaging.

The filter allows only those x-rays with sufficient energy to pass through while absorbing the lower-energy, less useful ones. This process not only helps to improve the quality of the resulting images by increasing the proportion of useful x-rays but also enhances patient safety by ensuring that unnecessary radiation exposure is minimized. Proper filtration is an essential part of radiation safety protocols, as it aligns with best practices in minimizing patient dose while maximizing image quality.