Industrial Radiography

Radiography is a procedure that helps to see objects that cannot be seen with naked eye. The use of electromagnetic radiation helps to view these objects without any hindrance. The concept of Radiography came into existence in 1895 when X-rays were discovered. Radiography soon became widely applicable in various areas for testing and inspection. Today, Industrial Radiography has become an integral part of nondestructive testing (NDT). The electromagnetic radiations penetrate deep into the object and help to inspect it from inside. The technology allows identifying the hidden flaws, and rectifying them at early stage.

Use of Industrial Radiography for Inspection of materials

Industrial Radiography is being widely used for testing and grading of welds of equipments to ensure their quality. It is used to carry out welding inspection in various areas and check the welds on pressurized piping, pressure vessels, high-capacity storage containers, pipelines, and other structural welds. While conducting a welding Inspection with radiography, it is advisable to inspect the component for any external defects. It is very difficult to inspect an irregular welded surface and identify internal defects.

Industrial Radiography can be used to inspect any flat or solid material, such as walls and floorings. It allows testing concrete and locating rebar or conduit and also inspecting pipe walls against anomalies that are caused because of corrosion and mechanical damages. Industrial Radiography is one of the most essential methodologies to maintain high quality standards and carry out welding inspection efficiently and effectively.

Industrial Radiography Equipment

Radiography (X-ray) or high energy X-ray machines are used in Industrial Radiography. These machines generate a radiograph of the object and show internal and external defects. The radiography is generated in variations of black, white and gray. These state-of-the-art machines also help to check the thickness variations and assembly details of inspected object. They are widely used in welding inspections and carry out the welding operations successfully.

Industrial Radiography Safety Precautions

Industrial Radiography is a critical task and involves use of high energy radiations and gamma rays; therefore, it is very important to take safety precautions for the people using this technology. Some of the safety tools used in Industrial Radiography inspections are radiation survey meter an alarming dosimeter, a gas-charged dosimeter, and a film badge or thermo-luminescent dosimeter (TLD). Use of these safety devices help to protect the radiographer against the injuries that can be caused due to overexposure to radioactive rays.

X-Ray Aprons a New Way to Protect Against Radiation

X-ray aprons are an important part of any doctor’s wardrobe. Doctor’s that perform surgeries are constantly surrounded by large amounts of radiation. Surgeons rely heavily on the images that x-rays allow them to see. However, taking these x-rays can be extremely harmful to the physician’s health. The patients do not have to be nearly as cautious as the physicians because they are not surrounded by radiation as frequently as the surgeons.



One of the best ways for physicians to protect themselves from this radiation is to wear an x-ray apron. These aprons used to be traditionally only made out of lead, however newer alloys are being manufactured that are equally as protective. There are significant downsides to wearing x-ray aprons made of lead.



Lead while it is a great element for protecting against radiation it is extremely heavy. This can really pose a problem for physicians because in some cases they must wear these aprons for long spans of time. Lead has a very high density which why it is able to protect against x-rays so well. Unfortunately its dense nature also makes it very difficult to wear due to its weight. Physicians who have been wearing lead aprons for many years are now developing back problems from having the excessive weight on their bodies for extended periods of time.



Doctors have begun to demand a better solution to radiation protection. While they know that x-ray aprons are a necessity to their work they have asked for a more ergonomically feasible solution to this problem. New technologies have come to light to help these physicians in during these long procedures. New x-ray aprons have begun development from several manufactures that are significantly lighter than their lead counterparts.

These new aprons contain other protective agents to shield from harmful radiation. These new alloys are significantly lighter than the traditional lead x-ray apron. While they are lighter they do protect from radiation at the same rate and in some cases can actually protect better than the old lead aprons. Old aprons that are made of lead should be replaced by these ergonomically suitable substitutes. Doctors are taking on unnecessary risks if they continue to use their old lead x-ray aprons. Upgrading to a new x-ray apron is highly recommended to most surgeons that are wearing the apron for a long period of time. However, there are also concerns for disposal of the old lead aprons since they cannot be simply disposed of in the trash.



Physicians should always dispose of old lead x-ray aprons properly by sending them to a recycling plant. It is vital that doctors take this precaution when getting rid of their old apron because of the contamination factor of lead. This is just another benefit of the newer x-ray aprons. Since they are not made from harmful materials themselves, such as lead, they do not need special disposal procedures. These new elements are not harmful to the environment and will not contaminate areas liked lead will. Physicians should make the switch to a new x-ray apron that is not made from lead if they haven’t already, for both their sake and the environments.



About the Author: Stephen Is CEO of Medical Equipment Today a website updating physicians of the latest medical equipment or more information on x-ray aprons



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Is Doing An X Ray Safe

X-rays use invisible electromagnetic energy beams to produce images of internal tissues, bones, and organs on film or digital media. Standard x-rays are performed for many reasons, including diagnosing tumors or bone injuries.

X-rays are made by using external radiation to produce images of the body, its organs, and other internal structures for diagnostic purposes. X-rays pass through body structures onto specially-treated plates (similar to camera film) or digital media and a "negative" type picture is made (the more solid a structure is, the whiter it appears on the film).

When the body undergoes x-rays, different parts of the body allow varying amounts of the x-ray beams to pass through. The soft tissues in the body (such as blood, skin, fat, and muscle) allow most of the x-ray to pass through and appear dark gray on the film or digital media. A bone or a tumor, which is more dense than the soft tissues, allows few of the x-rays to pass through and appears white on the x-ray. At a break in a bone, the x-ray beam passes through the broken area and appears as a dark line in the white bone.

X-ray technology is used in other types of diagnostic procedures, such as arteriograms, computed tomography (CT) scans, and fluoroscopy.

When medical X-rays are being produced, a thin metallic sheet is placed between the emitter and the target, effectively filtering out the lower energy (soft) X-rays. This is often placed close to the window of the X-ray tube. The resultant X-ray is said to be hard. Soft X-rays overlap the range of extreme ultraviolet. The frequency of hard X-rays is higher than that of soft X-rays, and the wavelength is shorter.

Hard X-rays overlap the range of "long"-wavelength (lower energy) gamma rays, however the distinction between the two terms depends on the source of the radiation, not its wavelength; X-ray photons are generated by energetic electron processes, gamma rays by transitions within atomic nuclei.

Since antigen's discovery that X-rays can identify bony structures, X-rays have been developed for their use in medical imaging. Radiology is a specialized field of medicine. Radiographers employ radiography and other techniques for diagnostic imaging. Indeed, this is probably the most common use of X-ray technology.

X-rays are especially useful in the detection of pathology of the skeletal system, but are also useful for detecting some disease processes in soft tissue. Some notable examples are the very common chest X-ray, which can be used to identify lung diseases such as pneumonia, lung cancer or pulmonary edema, and the abdominal X-ray, which can detect ileus (blockage of the intestine), free air (from visceral perforations) and free fluid (in ascites).

In some cases, the use of X-rays is debatable, such as gallstones (which are rarely radiopaque) or kidney stones (which are often visible, but not always). Also, traditional plain X-rays pose very little use in the imaging of soft tissues such as the brain or muscle. Imaging alternatives for soft tissues are computed axial tomography (CAT or CT scanning), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound. Since 2005, X-rays are listed as a carcinogen by the U.S. government.

Diagnostic x-rays are safe. But who hasnt wondered about them when undergoing a chest x-ray, mammogram, routine dental x-rays, or an x-ray for a broken bone?

The safety of routine X-rays has been called into question following the unexpected discovery that cells exposed to low doses avoid or delay repairing damaged DNA.

Puzzlingly, cells given higher doses of X-rays were faster and more efficient at patching up any damage. But the German researchers who made the discovery say it is not clear whether the sloppy repairs that follow low level exposure is a good or bad thing.

Kai Rothkamm and Markus Brich, at the University of Saarland in Homburg, acknowledge that unrepaired breaks in DNA could well lead to cells becoming cancerous. But it is equally possible, they say, that the failure to repair low-level DNA damage has evolved as a safety measure.

Other experts state that no scientific data indicate any danger. In fact, there is evidence that low doses may actually reduce the chance of cancer. The question about the amount of radiation you receive is difficult for x-ray technicians and doctors to answer because very few x-ray units have an instrument to measure the radiation to the patient.

You may have heard that even the smallest amount of radiation may cause cancer. Based on this unscientific assumption, the risk of causing a fatal cancer from a chest x-ray is 10 times greater than the risk of dying in a commercial airline flight. Or a CT scan of the kidneys has a greater risk of inducing a fatal cancer than a cigarette smoker has of dying from any cancer. These statements produce unnecessary worry. There is no data to show any risk from diagnostic x-rays.

Lastly, radiation during pregnancy may lead to birth defects. Always tell your radiologist or physician if you suspect you may be pregnant.

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Techniques for Hydrostatic test

Leaks in pressure yacht such as pipelines, plumbing, etc can be found with one of the most ordinary methods knows as hydrostatic test. In short it is utilized to test mechanisms for leaks by pressurizing them within with a liquid. This testing technique can be utilized or tested on piping, tanks, valves and containers with fused or fixed sections. This technique of testing should not be perplexed with the Hydrostatic Body Fat Test that utilizes the philosophy of resilience to analyze a person's body fat. Hydrostatic tests, as a supplementary recital authenticate fluid stress vessels. By utilizing this mean of test we can uphold protection standards and sturdiness of a vessel eventually. Recently manufactured portion are firstly competent by means of the hydrostatic test and repeatedly re-qualified at usual hiatus by the proof pressure test which is also known as modified hydrostatic test. With the help of Hydrostatic we can check gas cylinder or a boiler is checked for leaks or defect. This method is very vital as such containers can blow up if they fail when containing dense gas.
Normally the benefits of this test is that it helps to measure the pressure capacity, manually control the systems, is fully automatic, precise control, is fully instrumentation and data logging, has strain measurement system, temperature control, etc.
This method requires that a constituent be entirely filled with a liquid such as water. Pressure is gradually applied to the liquid until the required pressure is reached. This pressure is detained for the necessary time at which point the constituent is examined visually to establish leaks.
There are two types of hydrostatic measures that are included in the method:
Firstly the pressure drops method with compassion. This technique would never place leaks but can be used to determine entirety system leakage. It is important that the technique be familiar with that water additives can speed up the flow of water through leaks and make the test more responsive.
Secondly is the Visual examination. This practice can attain compassion. This extensive bound in compassion is accomplished by not only plummeting confrontation to the liquid flow through leaks but by also enhancing the visibility of leakage proposition.One of the more attractive proposals is that it is frequently more helpful to pulsation the pressure throughout a test than it is to clutch a steady pressure. This is particularly true when the organization being tested will not function at a stable pressure or it is being tested at pressures well over those predictable during standard use. The cause for this prerequisite is that little leaks are not forever still. Several enlarge under pressure, several indentures Severe over pressurization may in reality close some leaks overall.