The same goes for thicker structures, which may not be that dense, and may appear whiter as there are more tissues to go through. The denser the structure, the more white it will appear. That is due to different tissues absorbing different amount of radiation due to their density (absorbing capabilities), the thickness of the material and duration of the exposure. When looking at an x-ray, you may see a picture in white and black. It is an excellent tool for evaluating symptoms, physical signs, and placements of specific equipment. However, medical imaging greatly outweighed the harm by the benefits of the examination. This makes it a type of ionizing radiation, and therefore harmful to living tissue. X-ray photons are a form of electromagnetic radiations and carry enough energy to ionize atoms and disrupt molecular bonds. He named it x-radiation to signify an unknown type of radiation and later took an x-ray image of his wife’s hand. The x-ray was discovered by German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen on the 8th of November, 1895. I definitely needed this and I still refer to this method whenever I look at chest x-rays. This method helps inexperienced students as it reduces the odds to miss anything on a chest x-ray. The DRS ABCDE (inspired from Life in the Fastlane) is an easy and meticulous method to provide relevant information on what you see and become confident in yourself and your interpretation. An exciting blog for students who struggle to interpret or present chest x-rays methodically on the ward.

Overexposed x ray