Basic Definition:

kVp is an abbreviation for kilovoltage peak and refers to the voltage through which electrons are accelerated from filament to target (such as from cathode to anode in an X-ray tube) in order to generate X-rays.

More Information:

See Section 2, “X-ray production”, in “X-ray Image Production Procedures” from the  National Center for Biotechnology Information.¹

This simulation illustrates the effect of varying kVp and filter material on the X-ray spectrum.

References:

1. Sy E, Samboju V, Mukhdomi T. X-ray Image Production Procedures. [Updated 2022 Oct 17]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564352/ ↩︎

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