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Plain Radiographs |
| The
Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Bethesda, Maryland 20814 |
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Plain radiographs are often called "plain
X rays" - but you can't see the X-rays, only the images created by them. Radiographs
can be produced using a variety of imaging methods, and they all require
exposing the patient to X-ray radiation.
The image or picture is basically a shadow of the parts of the patient that absorb or block the X-Rays. The image can be collected on photosensitive film, on a digital imaging plate, or seen "live" on a fluoroscope - sort of like an X-ray TV camera. The radiographic image is a "photographic negative" of the object - the "shadows" are white regions (where the X-rays were blocked by the object). The image is black in the regions that did not stop the Xrays, and they passed through to expose the film or sensor. Plain radiographs ("plain films") are usually taken by a trained Registered Radiologic Technologist. The resulting films or images are then interpreted by the Radiologist to make a diagnosis or suggest further tests. |
Lateral plain radiograph
of skull.
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