The present invention relates to automatic exposure control implemented in imaging by electromagnetic radiation, in particular to automatic exposure control in film-based mammography, which is based on a completely new approach as compared with the solutions currently in use, which utilize adjustment curves and/or tables constructed on the basis of empiric tests. The new approach includes modeling into the AEC system the radiation spectra obtainable from the radiation source as a function of its operating parameters and attenuation of the spectrum as the radiation traverses components of the imaging apparatus. By measuring the thickness of the object to be imaged and knowing the initial spectrum and its calculable behavior, a correspondence between the AEC signal and the desired darkening of the image can be achieved which is based on true density of the object being imaged.
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