What Is a Chest X-Ray?

What is a chest X-ray?
A chest X-ray is a radiology test that involves exposing the chest briefly to radiation to produce an image of the chest and the internal organs of the chest. An X-ray film is positioned beside the body opposite the camera, which sends out a very small dose of a radiation beam. As the radiation penetrates the body, it is absorbed in varying amounts by different body tissues depending on the tissue's composition of air, water, blood, bone, or muscle. Bones, for example, absorb much of the X-ray radiation while lung tissue (which is filled with mostly air) absorbs very little, allowing most of the X-ray beam to pass through the lung.
What is a shadow on a chest X-ray?
Due to the disparities in their work which varies the degrees of the penetration of the x-ray beam;, the lungs, heart, aorta, and bones of the chest each can be clearly visualized on the chest X-ray. The X-ray motion picture records these differences to create an image of body tissue structures and these are shadows observed on the X-ray. The white shadows on chest X-ray signify more dense or solid tissues, such as bone or heart, and the darker shadows on the upper body X-ray represent air filled tissues, such as lungs.
How is the chest X-ray procedure performed?
Patients obtaining a chest X-ray will often be demanded to use an X-ray gown, and extra metallic objects such as jewellery are removed from the chest and/or neck areas to provide a safe procedure and may cause interference to the procedure if worn. These objects can block X-ray penetration, making the result less accurate. Patients may be asked to take a deep breath and hold it during the chest X-ray in order to inflate the lungs to their maximum, which increases the visibility of different tissues within the chest. The chest X-ray procedure often involves a view from the back to the front of the body as well as a view from the side. The view from the side is called a lateral chest X-ray. Occasionally, different...