X-Rays

We now know that these rays are, like light and radio waves, a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have high energy and short wavelength and are able to pass through tissue. A special type of photographic film is used to record X-ray pictures. The machines used to take X-ray pictures produce X-rays with energies of around 120,000 electron volts. Staff involved in X-ray tests and treatment

A radiographer is a trained professional concerned with the operation of X-ray equipment and the care of patients during radiological examinations or X-ray treatment. Radiographers who operate equipment used for taking X-ray pictures are known as diagnostic radiographers: those who operate equipment used for treatment are known as therapy radiographers.

A radiologist is a qualified doctor who is concerned with interpreting X-ray pictures and performing certain types of investigation and treatment that rely on imaging techniques.

X-ray tests

A simple X-ray image can be extremely informative. CT scanning is a further development of the use of X-rays. What happens during an X-ray test?

Is X-ray radiation dangerous?

Nowadays, with the use of very small doses of radiation to produce high quality X-ray images, the risk of cancer after properly supervised X-ray examinations is extremely small; so small as to be of no consequence to any individual.

Because staff in the X-ray department work with X-rays all the time they would, if they stayed beside every patient, over the course of time, be exposed to quite a high dose of radiation. X-rays are a form of invisible, high-frequency electromagnetic radiation. X-rays are very small and energetic. X-rays are used in various medical applications, especially for imaging.

Tesla was the first to inform the scientific community of the biological hazards of x-rays. In some languages, x-rays are actually referred to as Roentgen rays. Because of the tiny wavelength of x-rays, they are useful for imaging small structures, such as individual molecules. Sometimes x-ray imaging is used to investigate paintings which have been painted over. Under special circumstances, such as in a dark room and looking directly down a cathode ray tube, x-rays are visible to the human eye.