1 of 10

Write now Article Tools

"Don't talk to me about x-rays. I am afraid of them" The statement is a quote from a page one article in the August 3, 1903 edition of the New York World Newspaper. Thomas Edison made this statement 2 years after he gave up his research in x-radiation. In 1896, Edison invented a machine called a Fluoroscope. This machine used x-rays and a phosphorescent coated screen to deliver live moving images of the inside of the human body. In his five short years experimenting with x-rays, Edison had lost the ability to focus one eye and developed painful vision ailments. His research partner, Clarence Dally, suffered extensive neoplastic skin lesions and finally died of radiation induced carcinoma in 1904. The first fatality directly attributed to x-rays.

Edison's research with Dally was not only pioneering in the uses of x-rays, but also became known as the first experiments into the risks of radiation exposure. Dally's death was noted as the first fatal result of radiation exposure.
X-rays are natural phenomena that have always existed. In a charged vacuum tube, an electron cloud forms on the negative or cathode side. A positive charge on the anode side of the tube pulls the electron cloud, similar to the positive and negative magnets drawing together, at a very high rate of speed. When the electron clouds hits the anode, usually a heavy metal such as tungsten, the electrons stop suddenly. The sudden stop causes the electron to expend their energy. The sudden burst of energy in simple terms is many x-rays of many strengths.
The first tube with the ability to generate x-rays was invented in the 1870's by Sir William Crookes. Scientists experimenting in the 1870's, 80's, and 90's, with the light or cathode rays The Crookes Tube emitted, including Crookes himself, noted images or fog appearing on photographic plates kept within a short distance of the Crookes tube. In 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen also noted his photographic plates "fogging" during his experiments with cathode rays. After eliminating all other sources of the fog on the plates, he deduced the rays were invisible, and were coming from the Crookes tube. He turned his research toward the invisible rays, that he named "x", the scientific letter for the unknown. After placing objects of different compounds and densities between the Crookes tube and photographic plates, he was able to determine what caused x-rays, how to harness x-rays, and finally on November 8, 1895 made a historic x-ray picture of his wife's

• 1
• 2
• 3
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about How a doctor uses an X-ray?
We want to hear your view. Write now!