X-ray - Other Uses

Other Uses

Other notable uses of X-rays include

• X-ray crystallography in which the pattern produced by the diffraction of X-rays through the closely spaced lattice of atoms in a crystal is recorded and then analysed to reveal the nature of that lattice. A related technique, fiber diffraction, was used by Rosalind Franklin to discover the double helical structure of DNA.
• X-ray astronomy, which is an observational branch of astronomy, which deals with the study of X-ray emission from celestial objects.
• X-ray microscopic analysis, which uses electromagnetic radiation in the soft X-ray band to produce images of very small objects.
• X-ray fluorescence, a technique in which X-rays are generated within a specimen and detected. The outgoing energy of the X-ray can be used to identify the composition of the sample.
• Industrial radiography uses X-rays for inspection of industrial parts, particularly welds.
• Industrial CT (computed tomography) is a process which uses X-ray equipment to produce three-dimensional representations of components both externally and internally. This is accomplished through computer processing of projection images of the scanned object in many directions.
• Paintings are often X-rayed to reveal the underdrawing and pentimenti or alterations in the course of painting, or by later restorers. Many pigments such as lead white show well in X-ray photographs.
• X-ray spectromicroscopy has been used to analyse the reactions of pigments in paintings. For example, in analysing colour degradation in the paintings of van Gogh
• Airport security luggage scanners use X-rays for inspecting the interior of luggage for security threats before loading on aircraft.
• Border control truck scanners use X-rays for inspecting the interior of trucks.

• X-ray art and fine art photography, artistic use of X-rays, for example the works by Stane Jagodič
• X-ray hair removal, a method popular in the 1920s but now banned by the FDA.
• Shoe-fitting fluoroscopes were popularized in the 1920s, banned in the US in the 1960s, banned in the UK in the 1970s, and even later in continental Europe.
• Roentgen Stereophotogrammetry is used to track movement of bones based on the implantation of markers
• X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is a chemical analysis technique relying on the photoelectric effect, usually employed in surface science.