What is the difference between X-ray film, CT and MRI?
X-Ray is the most common test performed today. In 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered the x-ray. His remarkable achievement radically changed the practice of medicine. For the first time physicians could see beyond the skin and underlying soft tissues to the skeleton without autopsy. Roentgen did not entirely understand these unusual rays. He used the letter “x” to describe the rays because in Algebra “x” refers to an unknown. When the spine is x-rayed the beams pass through the skin and underlying soft tissues (e.g. muscle, ligaments, tendons). When the beams meet bone (vertebra) it stops creating a white shadow on the x-ray film. A bone abnormality is reflected on the finished film. Shades of gray mirror the density of the different tissues. X-rays are best for looking at bone. They are not helpful for looking at soft trauma. X-ray films are widely used today and are often called radiographs. These tests are not performed at random. An x-ray would most likely be performed when s
