The Trail of Invisible Light: A Century of Medical Imaging
X-Ray Martyrs
X rays were originally considered to be a form of light. And just as light rays pass through glass, X rays were thought to pass harmlessly through flesh. However, as researchers gained more experience, they noticed that repeated exposure to X rays caused undesirable changes in human and animal tissues. |
9.Fischer Low Voltage X-Ray Machine,
circa 1920. |
| The first case of radiation damage reported in the United States involved a physicist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, who had been asked to locate a bullet in a child's head. Before attempting this, the professor performed an experiment to gauge the likelihood of obtaining an image through the human skull. He laid a coin on a photographic plate and then asked an associate to rest his head directly on top of the coin. To maximize his success, he positioned the tube only half an inch away from his associate's temple and activated the tube for one hour. No image of the coin was produced. However, within twenty-one days the associate had lost his hair. Newspapers flippantly reported that X rays would make shaving obsolete. |
10.Friedlander X-ray protective
suit, 1907. Courtesy of the American
College of Radiology. |
As X-ray units became more powerful, the hazards of exposure became more obvious. In August 1896 the first account of skin damage was publicized. Still, the danger was poorly understood. Individuals with serious burns always seemed to recover until a series of deaths in 1904 rocked the infant specialty of radiology. The first American X-ray martyr was Clarence Madison Dally (1865-1904), a glass blower who worked in Thomas Edison's laboratory. Dally had used his hands for years to test the output of X rays from tubes. He died after being diagnosed with skin cancer, having had both arms amputated. Another death occurred in 1905 under similar circumstances. Elizabeth F. Aschein, an X-ray technician, worked twelve-hour days for many years without radiation protection. She had exposed her hands routinely to prove to patients that X rays were harmless. Ulcerations eventually led to skin cancer, and although her arms, scapula, and clavicle were removed, the cancer spread throughout her body.
Most X-ray martyrs were radiologists and other professionals in the field. A monument was erected in Hamburg, Germany in 1939 to honor those who had died from exposure or whose deaths were hastened by X rays. One hundred and sixty-nine names were engraved on the stone at that time. By 1959 this number had escalated to 352. The terrible deaths of these men and women from many countries alerted the profession to the dangerous potential of X rays. |
11. Gas tube, circa 1930. |
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