History of X-Rays

Mrs. Rontgen’s Hand

The x-ray images were discovered by German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. This discovery was made while he was at the University of Würzburg. Research was being conducted concerning electron beams in a gas discharge tube. The florescent screen in his lab began to glow once the tube was on. This lead Wilhelm to question why the light continue to shine through the heavy cardboard surrounding the tube. After placing several things between the tube and the screen, Wilhelm placed his hand between the two. The resulting image was an silhouette of  his bones.

The first image ever taken was a picture of Mrs. Röntgen’s hand, as you can see her wedding ring is shown clearly on the image. The other three images that Röntgen took were of weights, a piece of metal and a compass.

This discovery is used in many different applications to this day, but the most effective was the use of seeing bone imaging.

What to Expect

This is video is a brief interview with a current radiologic technologist. She describes the steps she went through to become a rad tech and what her average day consists of. She introduces what schooling she went through, what college she attended and what the clinical work was like. She gives advice to those interested in the rad tech job and encourages them to pursue this career. This radiologist explains all the specific areas of the hospital that rad techs are required to work and the different demands of each one. She explains what is required to keep your license and that as a rad tech you are always required to learn about the new advances in technology and how they work.