About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
An X-ray is a quick, painless test that produces images of the structures inside your body — particularly your bones.
X-ray beams can pass through your body, but they are absorbed in different amounts depending on the density of the material they pass through. Dense materials, such as bone and metal, show up as white on X-rays. The air in your lungs shows up as black. Fat and muscle look like varying shades of gray.
For some types of X-ray tests, contrast medium — such as iodine or barium — is introduced into your body to provide greater detail on the X-ray images. Some people experience side effects from contrast material. X-ray beams also expose you to small doses of radiation, but the benefits from these tests far outweigh the risks.
- X-ray. In: Mettler FA. Essentials of Radiology. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2005. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/165146367-3/903135188/1276/6.html#4-u1.0-B0-7216-0527-3..50004-4--cesec2_7. Accessed Oct. 16, 2009.
- What you need to know about contrast agents. American Society of Radiologic Technologists. https://www.asrt.org/media/pdf/contrast_eng.pdf. Accessed Oct. 16, 2009.
- Safety: Radiation exposure in X-ray examinations. Radiological Society of North America. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/safety/index.cfm?pg=sfty_xray. Accessed Oct. 16, 2009.
- Bone X-ray (radiography). Radiological Society of North America. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?PG=bonerad. Accessed Oct. 16, 2009.
- Chest X-ray. Radiological Society of North America. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?PG=chestrad. Accessed Oct. 16, 2009.
- Wahl RL. Imaging. In: Abeloff MD, et al. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/165146367-5/903277817/1709/26.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06694-8..50025-7--cesec17_487. Accessed Oct. 16, 2009.
- Rust G. Pulmonary medicine. In: Rakel RE. Textbook of Family Medicine. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier: 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/165146367-6/903277817/1481/263.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2467-5..50026-9--cesec20_1081. Accessed Oct. 16, 2009.
- Mammography. Radiological Society of North America. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?PG=mammo. Accessed Oct. 16, 2009.
- Keeping kids still during exams. American Society of Radiologic Technologists. https://www.asrt.org/content/ThePublic/AboutRadiologicProcedures/KeepingKidsStillDuringExams.aspx. Accessed Oct. 16, 2009.
Find Mayo Clinic on