X-Rays In Medical Imaging

On November 8, 1895 Wilhelm Roentgen discovered x-rays. X-rays have evolved drastically over the past 120 years and there have been many new discoveries that are used to this day in diagnostic medicine. Some of the different modalities in medical imaging have also been very helpful when studying art and archeology. Both x-rays and CT’s are used to look at art to confirm its authenticity, archeology for the study of mummies, and also archeology to exam the charred scrolls at Herculaneum and pottery. Over the years, x-ray florescence (XRF) and x-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) have become increasingly popular methods to analyze art. The increasing popularity is due to the fact that these methods have been proven to be non-destructive. Both diffraction and florescence are types of x-rays used to help in the detection of art forgery. With the use of XRF it is able to identify certain pigments, inorganic materials, using the x-ray …show more content…
Mount Vesusvius erupted and destroyed the roman city of Herculaneum. Later on, explorers discovered the “Villa de Papyri,” a library containing nearly 800 scrolls. The scrolls were charred, and buried beneath more than 50 feet of ash. Hundreds of the scrolls were unwrapped, destroying many of them in the process. The quest began to find different ways to read the papyrus scrolls without damaging them any further. Conventional x-rays showed nothing on the scrolls, but a technique similar to a CT, called phase-contrast tomography did. Phase-tomography emits about the same amount of radiation to the rolled up scrolls as a chest x-ray. This technique can distinguish the difference between the papyrus and the charcoal ink. The first attempt made to decipher 24 letters from ancient Greek. As they kept going they could make out a phrase, which helped them to discover that the author was most likely a philosopher named Philodemus. They decided the scroll was most likely Philodemus’ essay “On Frank