What happens to patient dose when diagnostic filtration is increased?

Increasing diagnostic filtration in radiography reduces patient dose by eliminating low-energy photons from the x-ray beam. These low-energy photons do not contribute effectively to the image formation, as they are more likely to be absorbed by the patient's tissues rather than penetrating through to produce a diagnostic image. By filtering out these less useful photons, the overall quality of the x-ray beam is improved, resulting in less radiation exposure to the patient without compromising image quality.

This reduction in lower-energy photons leads to a decrease in the absorbed dose by the patient's tissues while maintaining the necessary components of the beam to ensure an adequate diagnostic image. Therefore, increasing filtration is an important technique in optimizing patient safety while still achieving effective imaging results.