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The Geissler Tube
A German physicist and glassblower, Heinrich Geissler, invented a glass tube that was sealed with some air still remaining in the tube. With electrodes at either end, that contain rarefied gasses or other ionizable material, the tube would emit fluorescent light. This was one of the first gas discharge units created to demonstrate the principles of electrical glow discharge. -
The Crookes Tube
The Crooks tube is very much like the Geissler, in that it uses a glass tube with electrodes and partial vacuum. Crookes went further to investigate, what was then known as, cathode rays and the straight lines they travel. In doing so, he discovered the intense heat that would be given off of certain target materials and announced his discovery of the fourth state of matter, "Radiant Matter", which would later be refuted. -
The Unknown Variable Rays
In 1895, while experimenting with various vacuum tube apparatuses to investigate their exterior effects, Wilhelm Roentgen discovered an unknown ray derived from the stream of electrons. Being unknown, he designated his new finding as 'X'-rays. 'X' being the standard variable chosen for any unknown factor. Through many trials, he discovered the results of an image, and took the first human X-ray of his wife's hand. -
Grids
In 1913 Gustav Bucky created a resolution to the issue of scatter particles making the X-ray blurry. He placed one grided plate between the X-ray beam and the patient, and another grided plate between the patient and the glass/film. The plates made sure the X-ray particles stayed aligned in columns but made grid lines appear across the images. They were later modified to reciprocate so that the lines would not appear. -
The Coolidge Tube
In 1913, William D. Coolidge invented the Coolidge tube, which was an altered version of the Crookes tube that used Tungsten and allowed for a more intense visualization of deep-seated anatomy. William D. Coolidge would also go on to develop the rotating anode. -
Hermann Joseph Muller
In 1927, Hermann Joseph Muller released the evidentiary findings of his experiments showing a quantitive connection between radiation exposure and lethal genetic mutations. He mated a group of fruit flies that had been exposed to radiation and a group that had not been exposed. The end result is that when the sex cells have been exposed, they are 15,000 times more likely to produce mutated offspring. -
Image Intensifier
Two Norwegian men, G. Holst and H. De Boer, began working on the science behind an image tube in 1928. None of their attempts at building such a thing was ever successful. 6 years later though, while working for Phillips, Holst single handedly built and released the image intensifier. It would still be 10 years before they would be produced to be applied for medical applications. -
Computed Tomography
Godfrey Hounsfield began thinking that it could be determined what was inside of a closed box by taking X-ray readings at every angle all around the box. What he didn't know, was that there had already been previous mathematical studies into this inquiry by others, as far back as 1937. It was, however, Hounsfield who put everything together and received a Nobel Prize in 1979. -
Computed Radiography
Fuji Photo developed digital technologies for its photo-related, medical and printing businesses. As a result, it invented computed radiography (CR), which solved a number of issues of traditional radiography, resulting in a decrease of radiation exposure to both technicians and patients. -
Direct Digital Radiography
In 2000, the commercial use of Digital Radiography was initiated. It was made first available in the dental field, and then in mammography, and finally for general radiography uses.