X-ray technology has come a long way from the early days of standing in front of a device that may give you cancer while your doctor checks to see if you had any in the first place. The devices that radiologists use to check for growths in the shape of famous people are now easy to transport. This way, medical personnel can actually check for serious problems in the field before having to drag them into a cold room and help them discover they have claustrophobia on top of whatever else they are suffering from. And the best part is that doctors aren’t the only people using this miniature see-through technology in their respective field (no, Hustler hasn’t pick one up, yet).
The Backpack X-Ray
X-ray technology and the military haven’t had the strongest of relationship, despite what pop culture implies. There are no X-ray satellites that can see into walls from space and there are no special programs that put liquid radiation into soldiers’ pupils to help them see through solid objects (that we know of). The problem has been its portability and accessibility in the field and one British company may have the answer. The Prism 200c, also known as the “Backpack X-ray,” allows soldiers to see through walls made of bricks, wood and concrete without pesky obstacles such as doors, doorbells or knocking. It can also probably hold a laptop and various documents that you’d like to conveniently ignore.
The Briefcase X-Ray
Maybe backpacks aren’t your thing. Maybe you’re the kind of on-the-go radiologist who thinks that backpacks are only for hippies, middle schoolers and organs deliverymen who don’t like to have to explain to amateur X-ray technicians, aka TSA agents, why they are carrying a cooler through the terminal. A California based company aims to make in-the-field x-ray photography more business-like with a portable x-ray machine that can be carried like an ordinary briefcase. It’s being on “Mad Men” with clinical nudity.
The Paramedic X-Ray
Paramedics don’t just need X-rays out in the field, they need a whole host of electronic medical monitoring equipment and gadgets that if any unqualified person tried to operate, they would probably need an ambulance of their own. An ambulance made by Mercedes-Benz actually contain its own portable X-ray that can help diagnose serious problems in the field. Doctors will have access to specs of the patient’s insides by the time they’re transported to the emergency room, assuming that their insurance will cover the ride.
The Nanoray
It’s actually possible to have a smaller X-ray device that can take pictures of biological species, natural elements or body parts that are affected by very cold temperatures. The EU-funded project that created the “Nanoray” is designed more for biologists and other earth science researchers who need to look inside their species while keeping them intact in a quick and efficient manner. The smaller device can also take more detailed X-rays of smaller specimens down to the width of a single hair and doesn’t require to be heated to 2,000 degrees Celsius unlike traditional X-ray. Scientists who have to carry it in their pockets will thank the makers of this for years to come.
The X-Ray Emission Device
And believe it or not, there is a device that’s even smaller the handheld X-ray, which might make it more efficient and also easier to lose if you’re the kind of guy who doesn’t have time to check the pockets while doing the laundry. A physics professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill who retired from teaching stumbled across the science behind what could be the world’s smallest X-ray emitting device that’s only “about twice the size of a small box of matches” and is so small and needs so little electricity to run at full capacity that it’s actually powered by a 9-volt battery. It uses a pryoelectric crystal to generate the electrons necessary to produce X-rays needed to look into the human body, which also means it generates no radioactive material (so if you were hoping to use this one to secretly gain super powers in the presence of a radioactive insect, I’m sorry I’ve wasted your time).