500lb. Man For Chest X-RAY

[Greg Gross]

I thought some of you might be interested in this little story. I just got home

from the specialized hospital unit that I work in. I've been a respiratory therapist

for 33 yrs.. I work in the medical field for 5 days and then photography/cinema-

tography for five days,alternating every week. I own my own photography bus-

iness and have been a professional photographer for over 20 yrs.. Well tonight

I had a 500lb. man on a ventilator and my job is to wean him off of it . Get him

off the ventilator. I do highly specialized work and consult directly with the phys-

ician. So doc called me and said write for a CXR(chest x-ray) on that guy and I'll

sign your order when I get in. Well X-ray arrived and shot the film(film is in a

holder that is positioned behind the patient's back) and left to develop it. A little

later the x-ray technician came back up on the floor and called me over to the

light box on the wall.He had the film up on the light box and all I could see where

the lungs are supposed to be was a great big splotch of white,nothing. I said what

the heck is wrong with the film? The x-ray tech. said the patient was too thick,too

big and that he could not get a proper exposure. I said do we have any options

at all and he said yes,we can use a faster film. He did'nt have any fast film at

our hospital and he started calling around the city's hospitals to see if he could get

some. In the meantime the doctor showed up and cancelled the order.

Greg Gross,Professional Photographer

Student Cinematographer

[Michael Nash]

So what speed films do you typically use for X-ray imaging? This is something completely new to me. Obviously, X-rays are a particular part of the spectrum and not the same as visible light.

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

Aha, but modern X-ray machines do not expose the film using the X-rays. The film holder has a phosphor coating on the inside; the phosphor coating is excited by the X-rays, and that light exposes the film. Apparently it's possible to expose the film with a lower X-ray dose to the patient using this technique. Since the film is so large, I'd imagine it's extremely fast, for similar reasons.

 

Phil

[John Pytlak RIP]

Kodak makes a wide range of products (both film and digital) for medical imaging:

 

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/health/inde...l?pq-path=2/521

[Greg Gross]

Yeah my hospt. uses all Kodak products. Problem was we could not

transport him to X-ray dept. due his size(he's not stable) and also he

would not fit through the door of the procedure room. The film was be-

ing shot on a portable machine which has limitations. Actually the next

day they did get faster film and got an acceptable CXR(chest x-ray). And

so a happy ending to our medical drama. He's improving and I hope to

have him off ventilator by friday.

 

Greg Gross,Professional Photographer

Student Cinematographer

Respiratory Therapist,RRT

[Greg Gross]

Phil,

Thanks for your post. I was not aware of design of film holder and

science behind it. Best regards!

 

Greg