USES OF X-RAYS

MEDICAL USES
Since it is discovered that X-rays can identify bony structures, X-rays have been developed for their use in medical imaging. Radiology is a specialized field of medicine. Radiographers employ radiography and other techniques for diagnostic imaging. This is probably the most common use of X-ray technology.

1.)SKELETAL SYSTEM
X-rays are especially useful in the detection of pathology of the skeletal system, but are also useful for detecting some disease processes in soft tissue.

2.)CHEST X-RAY
Some notable examples are the very common chest X-ray, which can be used to identify lung diseases such as pneumonia, lung cancer or pulmonary edema

3.)ABDOMINAL X-RAY
the abdominal X-ray, which can detect ileus (blockage of the intestine), free air (from visceral perforations) and free fluid (in ascites).

4.)DETECTING STONES IN BODY
In some cases, the use of X-rays is debatable, such as gallstones (which are rarely radiopaque) or kidney stones (which are often visible, but not always).

5.)Also, traditional plain X-rays pose very little use in the imaging of soft tissues such as the brain or muscle. Imaging alternatives for soft tissues are computed axial tomography (CAT or CT scanning), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound.

6.)RADIOTHERAPY
Radiotherapy, a curative medical intervention, now used almost exclusively for cancer, employs higher energies of radiation.

OTHER USES OF X-RAYS

1.)X-ray crystallography
X-ray crystallography in which the pattern produced by the diffraction of X-rays through the closely spaced lattice of atoms in a crystal is recorded and then analyzed to reveal the nature of that lattice.

2.)X-ray astronomy
X-ray astronomy, which is an observational branch of astronomy, which deals with the study of X-ray emission from celestial objects.

3.)X-ray microscopy
X-ray microscopic analysis, which uses electromagnetic radiation in the soft X-ray band to produce images of very small objects.

4.)X-ray fluorescopy
X-ray fluorescence, a technique in which X-rays are generated within a specimen and detected. The outgoing energy of the X-ray can be used to identify the composition of the sample.

5.)Paintings are often X-rayed to reveal the underdrawing and pentimenti or alterations in the course of painting, or by later restorers. Many pigments such as lead white show well in X-ray photographs