Abstract
RONTGEN announced his discovery of X-rays late in 1895. A few years afterwards, attempts were made to get cinematograph records of the pictures obtained by them; but they were crude. It was found that a speed from a £ to 1 second is perfectly effective for a good many movements. In a paper read to the Institution of Electrical Engineers on March 19, Mr. Russell J. Reynolds gave the latest developments in cine-radiography. There are two methods in general use. In the direct method, a band of film is placed in the position normally occupied by the fluorescent screen. This has the disadvantage that the dimensions of each exposure must be at least 4 in. x 5 in. A film of this size is very costly, and an apparatus capable of moving it at the rate of 8 or more exposures per second is cumbersome and difficult to design. In the indirect method, the image on the fluorescent screen is photographed with an ordinary cinematograph apparatus. The chief difficulty in obtaining a sufficiently brilliant image on the screen lies in the fact that the film is minute and moves at a high speed. The heavy currents necessary wear out the tubes quickly, and it is dangerous to expose the patient to intense radiation for the time necessary to take the film. It has to be remembered also that the effect of the rays is cumulative. Mr. Reynolds gives full particulars of the apparatus he has evolved to overcome the difficulties of the indirect method. It gives a sufficiently brilliant screen picture to impress itself satisfactorily on the film when exposed for only a small fraction of a second. The film is protected from exposure to the rays, and the exposure of the patient to the rays is harmless. By this apparatus the radiologist obtains a rapid, inexpensive and permanent record of the functioning of the heart, lungs, thorax, etc. These records can easily be sent by post to the specialist in charge of the case.
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Cine-Radiography. Nature 137, 526–527 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137526c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137526c0