Science & Measurement Codexery

Radiography

Imaging the unseen with X-rays and radiation.

Last updated

The technique originated from Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen's 1895 discovery of X-rays, which he named for their unknown nature.[1]

Key facts and history

He produced the first X-ray photograph of a human body part by imaging his wife's hand on a photographic plate.[2] The first clinical use of X-rays occurred on 11 January 1896, when John Hall-Edwards radiographed a needle stuck in an associate's hand in Birmingham, England.[3] Hall-Edwards also performed the first surgical use of X-rays on 14 February 1896.[3] Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton opened a radiographic laboratory in the United Kingdom in 1896, before the dangers of ionizing radiation were known.[4]

Marie Curie advocated for radiography to treat wounded soldiers during World War I.[4] On 8 November 1895, German physics professor Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered X-rays.[1][5] Röntgen observed a faint green glow coming from a fluorescent screen positioned about one meter away, which led him to understand that invisible rays were penetrating opaque materials.[2] Initially called roentgenograms, radiographs were produced by a variety of staff including physicists, photographers, and physicians before radiology became a distinct medical specialty.[4]

What the cited sources add

The AAPM issued a position statement in April 2019 recommending that patient gonadal and fetal shielding during X-ray based diagnostic imaging be discontinued as routine practice.[6] The AAPM statement notes that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines state radiation exposure from radiography is at doses much lower than those associated with fetal harm.[6] The term "fluoroscopy" was invented by Thomas Edison during his early X-ray studies, referring to the fluorescence he observed from a glowing plate bombarded with X-rays.[7] Image intensifiers are analog devices that convert X-ray images into visible images on a video screen using a vacuum tube with a caesium iodide-coated input surface.[8]

Dual-energy radiography acquires images using two separate tube voltages and is the standard method for bone densitometry.[9]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Radiography" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "History of Radiography", NDT Resource Center (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Radiography" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Markel, "'I Have Seen My Death': How the World Discovered the X-Ray", PBS NewsHour, 20 December 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Radiography" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Major John Hall-Edwards", Birmingham City Council (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Radiography" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Crests of the Interdental Alveolar Septa", The Journal of Periodontology, April 1953, p. 75–87 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Radiography" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "5 unbelievable things about X-rays you can't miss", vix.com; Glasser, "Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and the early history of the roentgen rays", Norman Publishing, 1993, p. 10–15 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. "AAPM Position Statement on the Use of Patient Gonadal and Fetal Shielding", www.aapm.org. facts only, no text reused. aapm.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Radiography" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Carroll, "Radiography in the Digital Age", Charles C Thomas, 2014, p. 9 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Radiography" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hendee, "Medical Imaging Physics", John Wiley & Sons, 2002 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Radiography" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cochrane Miller, "Dual Energy CT Imaging for Suspected Pulmonary Embolism Using a Lower Dose of Contrast Agent", Radiology Rounds, 2015 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Radiography (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

More in Science & Measurement

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →