X rays

X-rays, how they work, and their history

By anonymous 

X-rays are radiation normally used to do imaging to check for broken bones and injuries. Although radiation is commonly regarded as scary or dangerous, most people will have had an X-ray at some time in their lives. According to the FDA, “Ionizing radiation is a form of radiation that has enough energy to potentially cause damage to DNA and may elevate a person's lifetime risk of developing cancer.” X-rays are a form of ionizing radiation, but despite that a few X-rays in your lifetime shouldn’t hurt anything. X-rays are a helpful tool for doctors and without it the medical system would be very different.

In this essay I am going to discuss how X-rays are used in medical practices. The advantages and advantages of X-ray imaging, and how X-rays work.

According to MedlinePlus “X-ray imaging creates pictures of the inside of your body. The images show the parts of your body in different shades of black and white. This is because different tissues absorb different amounts of radiation. Calcium in bones absorbs X-rays the most, so bones look white. Fat and other soft tissues absorb less and look gray. Air absorbs the least, so lungs look black.” This makes it easy to use X-rays to find injuries in the bones while MRIs examine the tissue and organs. 

While X-rays are used in medicine for imaging, they are also used therapeutically. According to the US department of health and human services, “X-rays and other types of high-energy radiation can be used to destroy cancerous tumors and cells by damaging their DNA. The radiation dose used for treating cancer is much higher than the radiation dose used for diagnostic imaging. Therapeutic radiation can come from a machine outside of the body or from a radioactive material that is placed in the body, inside or near tumor cells, or injected into the blood stream.” So while X-rays are ionizing radiation, (so they could cause cancer), they can also help destroy cancerous cells and be helpful in the process of treating cancer.

Ionizing radiation can be dangerous as stated previously. But according to The University of California San Francisco, “When X-ray radiation is absorbed within our bodies, it can damage molecular structures and potentially cause harm. Very high doses of radiation cause damage to human cells, as evidenced by skin burns, loss of hair, and increased incidence of cancer. Because high doses of radiation can cause cancer, it is therefore generally assumed that low doses may also cause cancer.  However there is currently no direct scientific proof that this occurs, and some studies suggest that low radiation doses (such as those used in imaging) do not increase the risk of cancer.” So despite radiation being dangerous, X-rays do not pose an actual increased risk of cancer. This does not mean that safety measures shouldn’t be taken though. Doctors should still step behind a wall, and the patient should still wear a lead vest or the like.

X-rays are vital in medicine. But how and when were they discovered? According to Iowa State University, “X-rays were discovered in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (1845-1923) who was a Professor at Wuerzburg University in Germany.” This source also states that at the time Roentgen had been doing experiments with a cathode ray tube and some fluorescent crystals. He had been messing with it when he discovered that when he applied high voltage to the tube it generated a fluorescent light. What he discovered is shown in this quote, again from Iowa State University, “He concluded that a new type of ray was being emitted from the tube. This ray was capable of passing through the heavy paper covering and exciting the phosphorescent materials in the room. He found that the new ray could pass through most substances casting shadows of solid objects. Roentgen also discovered that the ray could pass through the tissue of humans, but not bones and metal objects.” If Roentgen hadn’t discovered this, our medicine would have evolved much slower. Thanks to Roentgen we have a way to diagnose broken bones, treat cancer, and more!

In conclusion, X-rays are a nigh essential part of the medical world. X-rays can do many things, and are pretty low risk! The things that we can do with X-ray imaging are incredible, and we likely haven’t discovered all the uses for them yet. Thank you for reading!