How Does An X-Ray Work?

How Does It Work?

How does an x-ray work? First, the patient will be positioned so whatever part of their body the doctor needs to view will be located between a source of x-rays and an x-ray detector. When the technician turns on the machine, x-rays travel through the person's body. The rays become absorbed in different ways, due to the different densities of the tissues in the body. Bones can absorb x-rays much more easily than other tissues in the body, which causes high contrast images to appear on the x-ray machine, and structures made of bone will appear to be more white than other tissues in the body. Meanwhile, x-rays have an easier time traveling through tissues like muscle and fat, along with the lungs and other cavities filled with air. Because the x-rays are not absorbed entirely, these tissues and structures appear in different gray shades upon a radiograph.

Continue reading to discover the different uses for x-rays.