X rays who invented

Thomas Edison was among those eager to perfect Roentgen's discovery, developing a handheld fluoroscope, although he failed to make a commercial "X-ray lamp" for domestic use. The apparatus for producing X-rays was soon widely available, and studios opened to take "bone portraits," further fueling public interest and imagination. Poems about X-rays appeared in popular journals, and the metaphorical use of the rays popped up in political cartoons, short stories, and advertising.

Detectives touted the use of Roentgen devices in following unfaithful spouses, and lead underwear was manufactured to foil attempts at peeking with "X-ray glasses. As frivolous as such reactions may seem, the medical community quickly recognized the importance of Roentgen's discovery. Soon attempts were made to insert metal rods or inject radio-opaque substances to give clear pictures of organs and vessels, with mixed results.

The first angiography, moving-picture X-rays, and military radiology, were performed in early In addition to the diagnostic powers of X-rays, some experimentalists began applying the rays to treating disease. Since the early 19th century, electrotherapy had proved popular for the temporary relief of real and imagined pains. The same apparatus could generate X-rays. In January , only a few days after the announcement of Roentgen's work, a Chicago electrotherapist named Emil Grubbe irradiated a woman with a recurrent cancer of the breast, and by the end of the year, several researchers had noted the palliative effects of the rays on cancers.

Others found remarkable results in the treatment of surface lesions and skin problems while others investigated the possible bacterial action of the rays. X-rays even found cosmetic uses in depilatory clinics set up in the US and France.

Roentgen was awarded the first Nobel Prize in physics in for his discovery. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Who invented the X-ray? See more modern medicine pictures. Mammography, the standard screening method for breast cancer, uses X-rays. But not so long ago, a broken bone, a tumor, or a swallowed object could not be found without cutting a person open.

Wilhelm Roentgen, Professor of Physics in Wurzburg, Bavaria, discovered X-rays in —accidentally—while testing whether cathode rays could pass through glass. His cathode tube was covered in heavy black paper, so he was surprised when an incandescent green light nevertheless escaped and projected onto a nearby fluorescent screen. Through experimentation, he found that the mysterious light would pass through most substances but leave shadows of solid objects.