Imaging with a little help from my friends

The world of radiology began in 1895 when a European physicist Wilhelm Röntgen noticed fluorescence behind heavy cardboard when a cathode tube was activated nearby. Röntgen used his wife’s hand to demonstrate for the first time how these unknown rays, or X-rays, could penetrate the soft tissue of her hand and illustrate the bones that lay within. Röntgen generously refused to patent his discovery, which allowed the explosive growth and development of a new industry.

Unfortunately, researchers were unaware of the dangers of too much X-ray exposure and during the early years harm was do...

 

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