Iodine

What is this spot and the spot on the radius?

This is where gravity has pooled a drop of the iodine solution. The hand is being held slightly above the image receptor. The spot appears hyperdense because of this drop, as the large radius of the iodine atom attenuates the incoming radiation.

Radiograph of my hand dipped in an aqueous solution of organically bound iodine.

This idea is based on work by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye

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Comments

budderflyman says:

Well trimmed finger nails.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Sebastian Niedlich (Grabthar) says:

This looks really weird. Interesting how the iodine makes the other details so visible.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

αиgεʟ™ says:

this looks pretty cool... m sure minor fractures or cracks will be much visible in these kinda radiographs!!!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

minαs says:

really amazing.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

budderflyman says:

Ok, Surf, as a layman, I would say you have an athletic hand, more of a baseball second baseman than a football quarterback. Actually, sort of my hand, a "worker of the world hand" as they used to say.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

☣ bionerd ☢ says:

wow, absolutely stunning!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

jophus777 says:

Love these shots very cool!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Deepinon says:

Brilliant Idea.
If you did not had a X-ray tube of your own, you certainly have a very forbearance radiographer.I would have been dogged with all those radiation protection laws if I wanted to do the same.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

budderflyman says:

Surf's fingers glow in the dark.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Surfactant says:

Nah, hands are particularly resistant to radiation. They can withstand large doses of radiation with some degree of safety. The problem is, we can have a general idea that a given amount of exposure to specific body parts is safe, but it appears as though any amount of radiation carries risk.

The probability that this exposure will produce enough damage to my tissues to cause cancer is quite small, but it is not zero. It is clear that large amounts of radiation will induce cancers. As the dose becomes smaller, though, accurately measuring the risk becomes impossible, because something else will kill the subject first.

I wouldn't recommend trying to do this unless you understand radiographic technique and dose, though.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Madison_Dally (Edison and Dally had no idea how much dose they were exposing themselves to, and they were using unshielded and unfiltered x-rays)
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

iSMUS says:

How long did it take to get the iodine off after this :O))
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

Surfactant says:

There is no free iodine in this solution (unlike a tincture of iodine, which would stain skin quite readily). This is a transparent (to visible light), viscous liquid, that washes off easily. The normal application of this is intravenous injection to help highlight vasculature and organs during an examination.
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

budderflyman says:

I just remember when I was a little kid, my dentist had three fingers missing. My mother told me he lost them from taking xrays and that it was common for dentists in those days to lose fingers to radiation.
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

Surfactant says:

Similar things happened to the early radiologists. The effects of large doses of radiation were established soon after Edison quit his experiments. By that time, though, the use of x-rays had become an integral part of medicine and dentistry. When performing exams of the gastrointestinal tract, it was necessary for radiologists to sit facing a standing patient. While the patient drank a barium mixture, the x-ray tube (behind the patient) was emitting radiation directly into the face of the radiologist as he watched the intestinal tract on a fluorescing screen. Radiation damage is cumulative, so multiple daily exposures of direct radiation caused some gruesome illnesses in these physicians. By the early 60's, technology allowed these exposures to be lessened by orders of magnitude. Modern technology has reduced dose so much that it is difficult to exceed the maximum allowable occupational exposure.
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

cocochiller says:

your radiographs are so awesome!
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

jmartinspacehaven says:

This reminds me of the x-rays used in shoe stores to check if shoes fit properly (according to this site, the last one was found in service in 1981: www.museumofquackery.com/devices/shoexray.htm )

Hey Surfactant, thank you for all the x-ray pics. As others have said, it reminds me of just how precious our brief life is.
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

budderflyman says:

Interesting, Surf. When I was five years old, I had a stomach ulcer. I twice had to have these barium fluoride studies you mentioned. That was in the early fifties at St. Margaret's Hosp in Hammond. I was very frightened by the whole thing because, of course, no one bothered to try to explain to me what was happening other than that they wanted me to drink this yummy puke shake that tasted like liquid chalk. I recall there were two or three doctors sitting in front of me in a dark room and I believe they were wearing goggles. That was over 50 years ago, so I can't remember much other than I was very frightened and overheard one one of them saying they should just send me up to Billings. I asked my Mother what Billings was and she said it was a children's hospital and I might have to go there if they had to operate on me. It was the most frightful thing of my entire childhood, just the thought of it. I am so happy that they did not send me up there.

After that, I used to frequently stick my feet in those old fluorescent machines they had in shoe stores and look at the bones in my feet. Who knows how much radiation I got from that? I see someone else above commented on these machines and have just now read that link. So, the same guy who invented those viewing boxes invented the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile? Wow, that was another big deal in the 50s when I was a kid, going to see Little Oscar once a year when he visited Celba's grocery store in that crazy vehicle (I think there have been five of them). And then, more coincidence, Nancy and I have stayed twice in Oscar Meyer's former huge log home in Door County, Wis.

Sorry for digressing, but I wanted to mention that also I had a 30 second lateral head xray at Purdue as part of someone's PhD dissertation on coariculation effects in speech. An image intensifier was used then, but I had no idea about dangers of xrays back then.
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

Surfactant says:

I hope you were given barium sulfate and not barium fluoride! The latter compound is quite toxic as it readily dissociates into its respective ions when ingested. Barium sulfate, however, does not dissociate when ingested. It will pass unchanged through the body.
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

jsnail17 says:

wow this is very interesting, not something you see on flickr every day! the detail just blows my mind!
Posted 14 months ago. ( permalink )

pnrmtapuumb says:

your pictures are all fascinating.
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

burned leg says:

Now that would have a lot of benefits.. in the case wiuth my left hand I'm missing 4 fingers, and an x-ray such as this shows just how much tissue is left for padding and such. it took 3 months to have revisions done on that hand, but with setup like this it would have been done much sooner because what "I" can feel can show up in the x-ray, which makes explaining and fixing things much better for a doctor.
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

mt•MT•Mt says:

For Halloween 2007, I went as a hand x-ray.
I said I was paying for enough of them, I might as well have some fun with it!
Did the doctors find what they were looking for?
I ended up having my ulna shortened.
Posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )

ImadCode says:

wonderful!! amazing.. i love it!
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

LifeSunDeath says:

This totally rules! Science!

Seen on reddit.com (?²ˣ)
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

irodman says:

Best hand xray I've ever seen.
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

paulfromcmns says:

Awesome photo, I just can't see dipping your hand in iodine being that good for you...
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

Kid Charlemagne 01 says:

I'd love to see what this would look like with a head X-ray. Creepy as hell, but really cool, I would think.
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

letterten says:

So cool. The details are amazing. Great.
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

joinusrightnow says:

Magic of science! very profound and interesting. What can't we do as brilliant minds. Focus is success is action.
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

the_indigo_one says:

This is an incredible picture! I love how the "fingerprints" are overlayed onto the bone structure. I keep feeling my hands looking for the different bones and wishing I had an image of them like this :)
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

Brother O'Mara says:

This is one of the most fascinating pictures and most fascinating discussions I've seen on Flickr in a long time.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

Zento! says:

This is absolutely FANTASTIC!
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

Just Back says:

Back to the dentist missing 3 fingers: surely they removed by an over-reactive customer?
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

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Iodine

Comments

budderflyman says:

Sebastian Niedlich (Grabthar) says:

αиgεʟ™ says:

minαs says:

budderflyman says:

☣ bionerd ☢ says:

jophus777 says:

Deepinon says:

budderflyman says:

Surfactant says:

iSMUS says:

Surfactant says:

budderflyman says:

Surfactant says:

cocochiller says:

jmartinspacehaven says:

budderflyman says:

Surfactant says:

jsnail17 says:

pnrmtapuumb says:

burned leg says:

mt•MT•Mt says:

ImadCode says:

LifeSunDeath says:

irodman says:

paulfromcmns says:

Kid Charlemagne 01 says:

letterten says:

joinusrightnow says:

the_indigo_one says:

Brother O'Mara says:

Zento! says:

Just Back says:

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