Medical Imaging: X-Ray

This is quick video which illustrate how X-Ray technology works. It is an animated and commentated video that is easy to understand.

History

On the 8^th of November, 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen, a German physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, produced electromagnetic radiation in X-rays. The radiation which contained the X-rays was called X-radiation, meaning that at the time, the radiation was of an unknown type. The technique at the time radically changed the practice of medicine. Physicians, doctors and other specialists could now see beyond the skin and soft tissue to see the skeleton without having to perform surgery. X-ray technology improved over the years and branched off new types of x-rays such as the CT scan and the synchrotron that can view objects at the atomic scale using x-ray beams.

The first X-Ray image taken in 1896

Today

An X-Ray image of human feet

X-rays are important in the personal diagnosis of medical issues in individuals. X-rays have become so important that they are now commonplace in hospitals and specialised clinics all over the world. The information they bring is important to people who need it. It is an irreplaceable piece of technology. The beams from the X-Ray pass through the skin and soft tissue and when it meets the bone, there is a distinction. This is one of the reasons why x-rays are specialised in looking at the bone and not soft trauma. If a person breaks a bone x-ray can see how the bone looks even though it is covered skin and muscle. That is one of the many uses x-rays have.

Future

The x-ray itself has room for improvement as it only looks at the bone. However, new and different technologies are being produced and may replace the x-ray, even in the near future. However, not many technologies can match the x-ray in convenience and simplicity. The x-ray is only able to serve a single purpose and this perhaps one of the few areas where it is let down. It will have to improve to match future technologies. X-ray is a great medical tool and will be improved into some of the best technology available in the future. If technologies like the Synchrotron have branched off from X-Ray technology, who's to say that many more technologies won't.

This video shows some of the history of X-Ray technology and also shows the most likely future of it. It has information on Free-electron Lasers (FEL) which are the likely future of X-Ray technology.