Medical+Imaging

Medical Imaging X-Rays

What Are X-Rays
toc X-rays are a form of electromagnetic energy, which have more energy than light rays. X-rays can penetrate and travel through many objects. They are sent through an object and can then produce an image, placed on the opposite side of the object on a piece of film.

When you get an x-ray your body or an object is placed in between the machine and the photographic film. The machine then sends electromagnetic waves, or radition, through your body or the object being x-rayed. This exposes the film to reflect your internal structure or the structure of the object. When an person has an x-ray done, bones, dense matter and tumors appear white, as they absorb radition. However, less dense matter and soft tissues appear darker because they let the radition pass through.

At the airport a conveyor belts carries your belongings through an x-ray machine. Usually, the machine is a dual-energy x-ray machine, which has single source that produces x-rays in the range of 140 to 160 kilovolt peak(KVP).

Kilovolt is the amount of penetration an x-ray makes, the higher the KVP the further the x-ray penetrates.

As the items pass through they are picked up by a detector, then passes the x-rays onto a filter which blocks out low energy x-rays. All the remaining high energy x-rays go onto a second detector. Then a computer circuit compares the two images to recieve better low-energy objects.

The images are usually coloured based on three different categories: organic, inorganic and metal. Shades of orange are used for organic images, because explosives are organic.