1-157-683 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Examining a patient's thorax using an X-ray tube and fluorescent screen, 1903. The X-ray tube (on tripod) is set at the required height and the patient stands directly in front of it. In front of the patient, the operator holds a specially coated paper screen. When X-rays fall on the paper, its coating fluoresces, leaving as shadows those dense portions of the thorax, such as bones, which absorb X-rays. Many who worked with X-rays in the early days suffered the effects of over-exposure to radiation.