All about x-ray

By ANJ MARCELO

• X RADIATION

• IS A DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURE USED TO EXAMINE OR IDENTIFY PROBLEMS LIKE FRACTURES, PNEUMONIA, TUBERCULOSIS, ENLARGEMENT OF THE HEART

• CONFIRMS PROPER PLACEMENT OF INNER BODY TUBES LIKE NASOGASTRIC TUBE.

• AIDS ANOTHER PROCEDURE LIKE VENOGRAM, ANGIOGRAM.

RADIATION

• is a term used to describe an energy that traverses space as a wave or particle.

They include light, radio waves, microwaves, and X-rays, which is an abbreviation for x-radiation

HISTORY

• In late 1895, a German physicist,

• Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen was working with a cathode ray tube in his laboratory.

• He realized that he had produced a previously unknown "invisible light," or ray, a ray that was capable of passing through the heavy paper covering the tube.

Why x-ray? Not y-ray or w-ray?

• He named the new ray X-ray, because in mathematics "X" is used to indicate the unknown quantity.

In his discovery Roentgen found that the X-ray would pass through the tissue of humans leaving the bones and metals visible

• In early 1896, X-rays were being utilized clinically in the United States for such things as bone fractures and

gun shot wounds.

XRAY AND ITS USES

• X-rays are used to form an image of the interior PART of the body, AND IT IS called a radiograph. They assist in the diagnosis of:

• -Fractures, dislocations and joint erosions;

• -Organ collapse (e.g. Lungs) or enlargement (e.g. The heart);-Solid tumur location

With the introduction of a contrast medium (a substance that shows up well on X-ray films) into part of the body, X-rays can be used to demonstrate:

-Blood flow along an artery or vein;-Organ function, e.g. the kidney (pyelogram);

-The patency of a tube or canal, e.g. the digestive tract (using barium)

SAFETY• X-ray radiation is cumulative

and therefore repeated exposure to X-rays will continuously increase the risk of harm to the body.

•cancers and genetic mutations•reduced bone marrow function•sterility (if ovary or testes are exposed)•damage to a developing fetus during pregnancy.

PROCEDURE

• The patient is carefully positioned so the body part to be examined is lying on or against an X-ray film with the X-ray tube pointing at the chosen area and the film.

• The patient has to be still when an X-ray examination is being done to ensure that the images formed are clear and not blurred, as the latter would pose difficulties in interpretation.