What is a Digital X-ray?

Medical X-rays and the field of Radiography have been around for over 120 years. Ever since the discovery of X-rays—a form of electromagnetic radiation emitted by electrons that passes easily through solid objects without being much absorbed or scattered, people were quick to use x-rays for medical diagnostic purposes. This pioneering method became widely used even before the dangers of ionizing radiation were discovered. Nowadays, the dangers associated with x-rays are virtually eliminated thanks to modern technology and better practices in Radiography.

Traditionally, x-rays were used in the medical field though a method called projection radiography, where the body part of interest is exposed to the radiation by putting it in the path of the beam and capturing the resultant remnant beam onto photographic film. This latent image, also known as a ‘shadow’, will then be available after the film is developed.

Over the last decade, a new method of detection and image capture was developed as a potential replacement for analog radiographic equipment. The digital x-ray, or more properly known as Digital Radiography, has been gaining popularity in the medical field because of the many advantages it has over the traditional method.

Digital x-rays, when compared to its analog counterpart, can be likened to the comparison between film and digital cameras. Whereas the traditional x-rays that use film take time to develop the image, digital x-rays can produce images instantaneously either through Computed Radiography (CR), where an imaging plate records the shadow to be read later by an image reading device, or Direct Radiography, where an imaging cassette is used to retrieve the shadow.

Digital x-rays allow for quick patient diagnosis and considerable image manipulation (the image can be analyzed by computers) that guarantees more accurate results and interpretations from doctors. It is speculated that analog x-ray systems will become obsolete in a few years and will be replaced with the more advantageous and convenient digital x-rays.