What is one technique to reduce the amount of scatter radiation?

Reducing the field size is an effective technique to minimize the amount of scatter radiation produced during an x-ray procedure. Scatter radiation occurs when x-rays interact with matter, such as the patient's body, and deviate from their original path. By limiting the area exposed to the x-rays, less tissue is irradiated, which directly decreases the amount of scatter generated. A smaller field size confines the primary radiation to only the area of interest, thereby improving image quality and reducing the radiation dose to surrounding tissues.

Larger field sizes expose more tissue, increasing the likelihood of scatter. Similarly, using lower kilovolt peak (kVp) settings results in higher contrast images but does not significantly impact the volume of scatter produced compared to field size. Lastly, decreasing the distance from the patient to the tube can enhance image quality but may increase the scatter radiation reaching the image receptor if the entire volume of the patient is irradiated. Therefore, reducing the field size is the most effective and practical way to control scatter radiation.