Which of the following does NOT contribute to decreasing radiation exposure to the technician?

When considering the options provided, the correct answer is based on an understanding of how each component influences radiation exposure. While all of these options contribute to safety protocols in an X-ray environment, the use of filtration at the portal of the X-ray tube primarily serves a different purpose.

Filtration in the X-ray tube is utilized to remove low-energy X-rays from the beam. These low-energy photons contribute minimally to image quality while increasing the dose of radiation received by the patient without any substantial benefit. Therefore, while filtration can improve the quality of imaging by ensuring that only higher-energy photons reach the area of interest, it does not directly decrease radiation exposure to the technician working in the vicinity.

In contrast, lead glasses, lead gloves, and collimation of the beam are all focused on personal protection and reducing exposure. Lead glasses provide a barrier to radiation for the eyes, lead gloves protect hands during procedures, and collimation limits the area irradiated to just what is necessary, thereby minimizing scatter radiation exposure to the technician.

Thus, the use of filtration does not contribute to the technician’s protection and is therefore the correct choice in this context.