A chest X-ray is a common radiological procedure. Your doctor may prescribe you to have a chest X-Ray to check for various pulmonary conditions. For example, it is used to diagnose and monitor conditions such as pneumonia, heart failure, lung cancer, tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, fibrosis and others. Your health practitioner relies on the chest x ray results to see how well certain treatments are working and to check for complications after certain procedures or surgeries.

If you are not a medical physicist or someone working in this field, understanding the science behind X-ray production can be quite tricky. However, to gain some basic insight it is enough to grasp some key points about X-rays. Firstly, X-ray radiation is a type of electromagnetic radiation, same as ultraviolet light, visible light, infrared light, microwaves and radio waves, but they have much higher energies, higher frequencies and shorter wavelengths. The X-rays are generated from electron interactions. The X-ray tube is the part of the machine where the X-rays are produced. It houses the cathode filament, from where the electrons are accelerated towards the anode target. The X-rays are produced in two ways during those interactions. Inside the tube, most of the x-rays (90%) are created when electrons, emitted from the cathode, pass close to positively charged atomic nuclei within the anode target and change direction, resulting in a loss of energy in the form of X-ray photons. They are known as bremsstrahlung (“braking”) x-rays. The remaining 10% of the X-rays are produced when inner shell atomic electrons of the anode target are ejected by incident electrons, followed by relaxation of outer shell atomic electrons to fill the inner shell vacancies, leading to emission of energy in the form of x-ray photons. These are called characteristic x-rays.

It is important to mention that X-rays belong to the ionising type of radiation, a type of radiation that has high enough energy to free electrons from atoms or molecules. Ionized molecules are unstable and quickly undergo chemical changes. On the cellular level, the ionising radiation can lead to changes to the cell's DNA or to cell's death. However, it all depends on the dosage of radiation received and all medical imaging tests make safety their first priority. For example, a chest CT scan gives a dose of 80 times higher than a chest X-ray but is still considered to be a safe procedure. Overall, the benefits of the scans greatly outweigh the potential risks.

Getting a chest X-ray is usually quick and easy. Every Radiology practice performs those kinds of tests. If you are looking to get a chest X-ray in the eastern bays area of Auckland be sure to visit EastMed Radiology on St Heliers Bay Rd. Because the procedure is very short, you will probably be seen straight away without an appointment and finished in just under 10 minutes. For prices, or to find out more information about chest X-rays and other procedures.
please visit eastmedradiology.co.nz.