Hi

The X-ray Machine

In 1895, the X-ray was discovered and then experimented with by german physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, Ph.D. The photo on the right is an X-ray of Mr. Röntgen's wife's hand. He originally intended for the X-ray machine he invented to be used in an industrial setting, but that wouldn't happen until 1913 because the power for desired X-ray output would break the cathode tubes used at the time. People were amazed with the X-ray's ability to pass through solid objects, and because of the cathode tube's avalability, people far and wide were able to experiment with the X-ray. Because of the X-ray's ability to pass through skin and organs, but not bone and metal, people realized that the X-ray could be used in a medical setting to find debris, bullets, fractures, and deformations in people so doctors could make the people better. Only 6 months after the X-ray was discovered, it was being used on the battlefield to find the bullets in soldiers, increasing the survival rate of surgery in the battlefield.