Running Head: X-Rays

Published 10 Oct 2017

X-Rays are the rays of short wavelength. X-Radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation composed of X-rays. X-Rays poses greater wavelength than gamma rays but shorter than Ultra Violet rays. X-Rays are also known as Roentgen Radiation (Peter, 1995). X-Rays are being used in number of fields; they are widely used for Radiography & Crystallography. X-Rays are form of ionizing radiation & can be dangerous in some cases. Patients usually wear metal sheet while facing X-Rays to weaken the harmful effects.

X-rays are similar to visible light rays. X-rays are wavelike form of electromagnetic energy composed of small particles known as Photons. X-Ray photon is produced by the movement of electrons in atoms. When an electron drops in lower orbit, it needs to release some energy in the form of photons. The energy level of photon varies depending upon the distance of electron fall between orbital. When Photon collides with another atom, the atom absorbs photon energy & boosts an electron to higher orbit if the energy level of photon does not match with the difference between two electron positions, the photon can’t shift electrons between orbital. A larger atom is more likely to absorb photon energy, smaller atoms are less like to absorb photon energy so they can’t shift electron like larger atom. X-Rays machines put the some concept for the production of X-Rays.

X-rays are being used in hospitals, clinics for identifying bone structure. Radiology is a specialized field of medicine & X-rays are widely used in radiography. X-Rays are very useful in the detection of pathology of the skeletal system; it is also used for detection of disease in soft tissues (Laurens, 1995). Pneumonia, lung cancer, chest Cancer, ileus, kidney stones, gull stones can be easily identity with the aid X-Rays (Emilio & Antonella 1994). U.S. Government has listed X-Rays as a carcinogen since 2004. There are a number of other uses few of them are as follows: X-ray crystallography, X-ray astronomy-ray microscopic analysis-ray fluorescence, Industrial radiography. X-Rays are also used for security airport security luggage scanners also uses X-Rays for inspecting interior view of luggage. Ionizing radiation also provides visibility to a human eye.

X-rays are beneficial in real world by number of ways, X-rays give new life to medicine and it helps a lot to doctors in the detection of many diseases. X-Rays are also used for security reasons. It helps doctor to peer inside patient’s body without a surgery. Dentists are taking advantage of X-rays in form of their dental equipments. X-rays are also used to study large objects like stars, galaxies and black holes. Pharmaceutical companies use this technology “X-Ray crystallography” for the detection of protein structure in order to design better products. It is now used in number of fields in order to produce quality product in market. They are also used in determining molecular structure of different elements. Security has become easy with the use of X-rays in different scanner & equipments. X-Ray provides inner side of an object which helps doctor, dentist to diagnose disease without surgery.

X-Rays have given new life to medicine field; number of tasks is now easy with the help of X-Radiations. X-rays are dangerous rays for human some precautionary steps are always taken to weaken the harmful effects. X-Rays are now using in number of fields around the world.

References

  • Emilio, Antonella Ballerna (1994, Biomedical Applications of Synchrotron Radiation: Proceedings of the 128th Course at the International School of Physics -Enrico Fermi- 12-22 July 1994, Varenna, Italy: p.xv, IOS Press.
  • Peter (1995). ‘W. C. Roentgen and the discovery of x-rays’. Ch.1 Textbook of Radiology. Medcyclopedia.com, GE Healthcare.
  • Laurens V, (1995), Automatic Detection of Rib Borders in Chest Radiographs, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, and 14(3):525-536.
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