One of his earliest photographic plates from his experiments was a film of his wife Bertha's hand, with her wedding ring clearly visible. To test his observations and enhance his scientific data, Roentgen plunged into seven weeks of meticulous planned and executed experiments. In January he made his first public presentation before the same society, following his lecture with a demonstration: he made a plate of the hand of an attending anatomist, who proposed the new discovery be named "Roentgen's Rays.
The news spread rapidly throughout the world. Thomas Edison was among those eager to perfect Roentgen's discovery, developing a handheld fluoroscope, although he failed to make a commercial "X-ray lamp" for domestic use. The apparatus for producing X-rays was soon widely available, and studios opened to take "bone portraits," further fueling public interest and imagination. Poems about X-rays appeared in popular journals, and the metaphorical use of the rays popped up in political cartoons, short stories, and advertising.
Detectives touted the use of Roentgen devices in following unfaithful spouses, and lead underwear was manufactured to foil attempts at peeking with "X-ray glasses. As frivolous as such reactions may seem, the medical community quickly recognized the importance of Roentgen's discovery.
Soon attempts were made to insert metal rods or inject radio-opaque substances to give clear pictures of organs and vessels, with mixed results. The first angiography, moving-picture X-rays, and military radiology, were performed in early In addition to the diagnostic powers of X-rays, some experimentalists began applying the rays to treating disease.
Since the early 19th century, electrotherapy had proved popular for the temporary relief of real and imagined pains. The same apparatus could generate X-rays. Also in , Emil Grubbe of Chicago is thought to be the first to use radiation to treat cancer; he successfully treated a woman with breast cancer.
Grubbe would go on to die in from cancer due to radiation exposure. Around this same time, Thomas Edison started his own X-ray research. He experimented with various materials to learn which was the most effective to use for the screen.
In , William Coolidge invented the Coolidge vacuum tube. These tubes create continuous X-ray emissions, are more stable than the cathode ray tubes, and allow the intensity and energy of the rays to be controlled separately.
The Coolidge gradually replaced the cold cathode-ray tubes, and this design is still in use today. Clarence Dally, a glassblower who worked with Edison, would X-ray his own hands to test X-ray tubes. Eventually, he had both of his arms amputated due to cancer, and he died of X-ray exposure in Gage of Nebraska was also discovering the dangers of radiation exposure at that time, including reddened skin, skin lesions, skin sloughing off, and hair loss. Refinements and advances in equipment design since have made X-rays much safer for patients and technicians.
The most sensitive of these screens use rare-earth metals. Clinical use of the X-ray flourished, with little regard for potential side effects from radiation exposure. Morton, each of whom reported injuries they believed resulted from experiments with X-rays. We now have a far better understanding of the risks associated with X-ray radiation and have developed protocols to greatly minimize unnecessary exposure.
Not a bad legacy for an accidental discovery. Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
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