Medical Central: X-Rays

I started this awesome book on different stuff doctors use to see inside our bodies. They use these scanners, which uses different waves and such, to actually see inside us! This process is called Medical Imaging, and it gives doctors an extra step in figuring out what's wrong with us. Without it, there are two other methods: listening to symptoms, and an examination that includes touching, looking at, and listening to our bodies. Since the problem is usually inside us, and many illnesses have similar symptoms, using only these two can be limiting and tricky for diagnostics (process of identifying what's wrong with the patient). But with Medical Imaging, things become easier.
And it started with X-Rays!

X-Rays
We all know X-Rays. When we've hurt our limbs, like a leg or arm, the docs have us get an X-Ray to see our bones and make sure nothing's broken. They are the most common scanner, and honestly the most well-known. They're relatively cheap to make, so doctors use a lot! There's a lot of types as well, like a X-Ray TV system which is an upgrade from flouroscopes (sp?) which made "movies" of real-time moving X-Rays images (made by Thomas Edison!). TV-X-Rays use similar techniques, but use an image enhancer to make the picture sequence better and put it on TV. And there's a process in where doctors inject certain chemicals into bloodstreams so that they can be seen on an X-Ray as well. In fact, the first CAT scan, used in a small London hospital when first time, used X-Rays to scan a woman's brain (the device that did this is called a CT, which stands for computed tomography, scanner).
X-Rays were discovered by a German scientist (who moved to the Netherlands when 3, and got an award for his X-Ray research). He was experimenting with a cathode tube (the type used in old-style TVs and the bulky computer monitors). That's basically a tube with the air vacuumed out and wires attached. Electricity causes certain energy to go from one end to the tube then to other other (negative end [cathode] to positive end [anthode][sp?]). This causes a glow, but the light doesn't go very far... only a few centimeters! But the scientist noticed a flourscent (sp?) material glowing in the dark room, and realized that a different radiation was emanating from the tube. He named this new radiation "X-Rays".
A bunch of experiments followed. Somehow, probably by accident, put his hand in the way while making a "photograph" (X-Rays cause special photographic material to darken, and less-hit areas lighten, making a photo), and the X-Rays couldn't go through his hand, so... Ta-da! (sp?) The first X-Ray image! He even did one later with his wife's hand... and the X-Rays couldn't even get past her ring!
Then he released his discovery to the public. Doctors soon realized how useful X-Rays could be to medicine, and a doctor use an X-Ray image only two months later!
X-Rays are part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Everything on the Electromagnetic spectrum travels at the speed of light, but they have different frequencies... AKA, different energy levels. Normal light that we see by is in the middle of the spectrum, microwaves and infrared are on the low-level end... and X-Rays are on the high-level bit.
This, of course, makes X-Rays dangerous. But few people realized that at first. Maybe people died from overexposure and the long-term affects (like cancer) of absorbing too much X-Ray radiation, including someone who worked with Edison! Some people realized the danger, but were ignored for a long time. X-Rays were even used for tiny things... some people had hand-scanners, and barber shops had "Foot-O-Scopes" which let people see their feet bones! Of course, people eventually realized the dangers. A detector was made for people who worked with X-Rays... a card with photographic material which got dark when too much radiation was absorbed (a similar detector is still used in modern times).
X-Rays got better with time, like anything. This may be hard to believe, but once upon a time, it took two hours of X-Ray absorbing to make a photo! This eventually got cut down to seconds, and even to where multiple pictures could be taken in a few seconds! And process to improve the picture (like moving metal grills to eliminate blurs and "snow" on the photo) were made.
In fact, in 2000, digital X-Rays popped up. Now electrical detectors, instead of photo material, could pick up X-Rays and send a code which explained how much hit them to a computer. The computer translated the code, made a photo, and then the photo could be stored on disks or wherever, looked at, sent to a different hospital to get a different doctor's opinion, and printed out! These X-Ray images could also be used for permanent records and whatnot. And there's no need for chemicals or darkrooms to develop the photo (since photo material was what used to be used, and had to be developed like normal photos, like what was made with non-digital cameras)! That's cool!