X-Ray

What is an X-ray?

X-rays are beams of energy that are created when electrons hit some specific metal surfaces. The radiation that comes off, is of a sufficient energy that can actually penetrate tissue. When it penetrates the tissue, and there is an imaging surface behind it, such as photographic film, then a picture of that particular body part can be demonstrated.

How is an X-ray produced?

When a x-ray beam passes through a body part, different parts of the body will allow more or less of that x-ray beam to pass through and because of that the deferential transmission and absorption of that radiation allows you to record behind that body part the amount that is finally coming through. When we do that we can contrast between various parts of the body and outline parts of that body by imaging that on film or currently, using digital imagining.

What is an X-ray used for?

X-Rays are used for diagnosis of injuries. It can be used to diagnose the presence or abscence of infections or the presence or absence of cancers.

Can any part of the body be X-rayed?

Any part of the body can be x-rayed. Their usefulness however is limited in some areas where we know that we have other modalities that can help us define diseases processes in a better fashion. So that we sometimes will instead of using X-rays, go to other modalities such as CT scanning, MRI scanning, or ultrasound or nuclear medicine.

Is an X-ray safe?

X-rays are safe as long as they are used judiciously. X-rays of any sort can potentially be harmful if used to a great extent and for too long of a period of time.

Is a radiologist the only person who is qualified take an X-ray?

The people who are qualified to take X-rays include radiology technologists who are certified and trained in the use of radiology equipment. Others who can use X-ray equipment are also other physicians who trained to use radiology equipment and are familiar with safety issues.

What is the difference between a radiologist and an X-ray technologist?

The difference between a radiologist and an x-ray technologist relates to training and also focus of their area of expertise. The x-ray technologist has been trained to use x-ray equipment and they're expert at it. The radiologists are trained not only to use the equipment but also to interpret the images that result from imaging of the body.

What are the risks of X-ray radiation?

The risks of radiation used in radiology include the potential but very rare development of cancers or skin burns and development of other problems such as cataract. That's why we are very careful about monitoring the amount of radiation that patients receive and also that radiation workers are exposed to.

What is the difference between a low dose exam and a high dose exam?

A low dose examination, as you might suspect, involves the limitation of the amount of radiation that is used for a diagnostic examination. The reason why we might use a higher dose, in a high dose examination, would be to potentially improve the resolution that we need, to get some answers that we're looking for.

What are some types of high dose exams?

Some examples of high dose examinations can include some areas of fluoroscopy where we're doing some procedures that require fine manipulation of pieces of equipment such as small tubes we call catheters. In those instances we need a higher amount of radiation to pass through in order to sometimes see these very fine tubes that may be as small as a hair.

Do I need to tell the radiologist if I am pregnant of breast feeding when getting an X-ray?

You should always tell the radiology technologist whether or not you are potentially pregnant or breast feeding, because the x-rays that you may be exposed to during the examination could harm a developing fetus. Occasionally we could be giving you some medications as part of the examination that could come through in the breast milk

What is a 'contrast agent'?

Contrast materials are materials that are either injested or injected into our body in order to allow us to differentiate various body parts and improve our ability to make diagnoses. Injested material can sometimes be used in order to, for instance, highlight the bowel. Injected medications can be used to hightlight the blood vessels or can sometimes show us tumors that would not be apparent without the iodine or other contrast material.

Is a contrast agent harmful?

Contrast Agents can be harmful for those who are allergic to some of the injected materials or ingested materials and also can be harmful in those patients who have kidney disease and even patients who don't have kidney disease there is a possibility that the material can also be harmful to the kidneys but it's much less likely.