What is considered a major source of scatter radiation?

Scatter radiation primarily originates from the interaction of x-rays with matter. When an x-ray beam passes through a patient, a significant amount of that radiation is absorbed while some is scattered in different directions. This scattering occurs due to the x-rays interacting with the tissues and structures within the body.

The patient serves as a major source of scatter radiation because their body contains a variety of tissues with differing densities and atomic numbers, which can lead to various levels of interaction with the x-ray beam. As a result, the x-ray photons can be scattered in multiple directions, contributing to the overall radiation exposure in the surrounding environment, including to radiographers and other personnel.

On the other hand, the x-ray machine and the collimator are designed to produce and control the x-ray beam, and while they may produce some stray radiation, they do not emit significant scatter themselves. The film is an imaging receptor and does not contribute to scatter radiation but rather captures the radiographic image produced by the primary x-ray beam. Therefore, the patient is recognized as the major source of scatter radiation in a fluoroscopic setting.