Inherent filtration refers to a permanently implemented filter in the useful beam. Inherent filtration includes the window of the x-ray tube and any permanent enclosure for the tube or source.

On October 19, 2001, Philips Medical Systems completed an acquisition strategy through its purchase of Marconi Medical Systems.
The History of Marconi Medical Systems
2001 Royal Philips Electronics and Marconi plc announced that Philips has agreed to acquire Marconi Medical Systems for $1.1 billion.
2000 Marconi introduces Infinite Detector Technology for Mx8000 multislice CT scanner, which acquires an unprecedented 16 simultaneous slices with sub-millimeter isotropic accuracy.
1999 At RSNA, Picker International unveils the new Marconi Medical Systems name and corporate vision.
1998 Picker International acquires the Computed Tomography Division of Elscint Ltd, immediately positioning Picker at the forefront of major global CT suppliers.
1986 Picker produces the industry's first 1.0T MR imager.
1981 Picker is sold to General Electric Co. Ltd. of England (GEC). Picker merged with Cambridge Instruments, GEC Medical, and American Optical to form Picker International.
1967 The name changed from Picker x-ray to Picker Corporation. Picker acquired Dunlee.
1946 The Dunlee Corporation started in Chicago by Dunmore Dunk and Zed. J. Atlee to meet demand for quality x-ray tubes and special purpose tubes.
1915 James Picker Company formed in New York City offering sales and service of x-ray equipment, film and accessories.

A slice is a tomographic section of an object. A slice is defined by position and thickness; each slice is divided into a matrix of voxels. In computed tomography, a motorized table slips the patient through the gantry and slices are made when the x-ray tube rotates in a circle around the patient.

Tomography is imaging by sections or sectioning to obtain images of slices through objects like the human body. Tomography is derived from the Greek words 'to cut or section' (tomos) and 'to write' (graphein). A device used in tomography is called a tomograph, while the image produced is a tomogram.
The first medical applications utilized x-rays for images of tissues based on their x-ray attenuation coefficient. The mathematical basis for tomographic imaging was laid down by Johann Radon. This type of imaging is used in different medical applications as for example computed tomography, ultrasound imaging, positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) also called magnetic resonance tomography (MRT).
Conventional x-ray tomographic techniques show organ structures lying in a predetermined plane (the focal plane), while blurring the tissue structures in planes above and below by linear or complex geometrical motion of the x-ray tube and film cassette.
Basically, computed tomography is the reconstruction of an image from its projections. In the strict sense of the word, a projection at a given angle is the integral of the image in the direction specified by that angle. The CT images (slices) are created in the axial plane, while coronal and sagittal images can be rendered by computer reconstruction.

See also Zonography, Computed or Computerized Axial Tomography, Resolution Element, Radiographic Noise, Intravenous Pyelogram.

X-rays are a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. X-rays and gamma rays are differentiated on the origin of the radiation, not on the wavelength, frequency, or the energy. X-rays are emitted by electrons outside the nucleus, while gamma rays are emitted by the nucleus. X-rays have wavelengths in the range of about 1 nanometer (nm) to 10 picometer (pm), frequencies in the range of 10^-16 to 10^-20 Hertz (Hz) and photon energies between 0.12 and 120 kilo electron Volt (keV). The energy of rays increase with decreased wavelengths. X-rays with energies between 10 keV and a few hundred keV are considered hard X-rays. The cutoff between soft or hard X-rays is around a wavelength of 100 pm.
Because of their short wavelength, X-rays interact little with matter and pass through a wide range of materials. These interactions occur as absorption or scattering;; primary are the photoelectric effect, Compton scattering and, for ultrahigh photon energies of above 1.022 mega electron Volt (MeV), pair production.
X-rays are produced when high energy electrons struck a metal target. The kinetic energy of the electrons is transformed into electromagnetic energy when the electrons are abruptly decelerated (also called bremsstrahlung radiation, or braking radiation) similar to the deceleration of the circulating electron beam in a synchrotron particle accelerator. Another type of rays is produced by the inner, more tightly bound electrons in atoms;; frequently occurring in decay of radionuclides (characteristic radiation, gamma ray, beta ray). The energy of an X-ray is equivalent to the difference in energy of the initial and final atomic state minus the binding energy of the electron.
Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered this type of rays (also called Roentgen-rays) in 1895 and realized that X-rays penetrate soft tissue but are absorbed by bones, which provides the possibility to image anatomic structures; the first type of diagnostic imaging was established. Radiographic images are based on this difference in attenuation for tissue and organs of different density. Today ionizing radiation is widely used in medicine in the field of radiology.

See also Exposure Factors, X-Ray Tube, and X-Ray Spectrum.