Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
X-rays are able to penetrate through materials like flesh. The heavier atoms like metal absorb them. The process proceeds such as: a beam of high energy electrons crashes into a metal target and x-rays are produced. A filter near the x-ray source blocks the low energy rays so only the high energy rays pass through a patient toward a sheet of film. Another sheet of film is used to prevent the scattered x-rays from distorting the x-ray image.
X-rays, unlike visible light, pass straight through objects. Therefore because our organs are not as dense as our bones, it cannot be clearly seen from an x-ray.
This image shows that the organs is not a visible as the bones in body.
The solution to this problem is an artificial contrast material. In this case, Barium Sulfate.
Barium X-Rays A.K.A. Barium Swallow is an X-ray used to diagnose abnormalities in the digestive tract.
It's a heavy metal salt, which absorbs x-rays very well. It can be digested or introduced into the colon via the rectum. The barium coats the lining of the stomach or colon, and when air is introduced to expand the gut, really detailed pictures of the bowel lining, covered in a thin layer of barium. Small tumors and ulcers can be diagnosed in this way.
This 3D medical animation shows a barium enema in the lower digestive tract. Barium is put inside the colon through a lubricated tube inserted into the rectum. X-ray pictures are taken as the barium flows through the colon. This alllows for better x-ray pictures.
1. It has the ability to absorb x-rays
2. It has low solubility.
Barium Sulfate is used specifically in digestive x-rays because it has a low solubility. Being only slightly soluble, this means it will not dissolve easily into the bloodstream and can be flushed out easily.
Barium on its own is toxic to humans. However, barium sulfate is commonly used today as an image enhancer for gastrointestinal x-rays because of its low solubility and its ability to absorb X-rays. The chemical equation for Barium Sulfate is:
BaSO4 --> Ba^2+ + SO4^2-
Due to the conditions of the human body such as temperature, as well as other factors and barium sulfate's low solubility, the equilibrium will shift to the left side. Therefore, the concentration of what's on the right side (the ions) is negligible and does not easily reach a toxic level, thus not dissolve.
Gillson, S. (n.d.). Barium X-Rays - Barium Swallow - Diagnosing Acid Reflux, UIcers and Hiatal Hernias. Heartburn - Heartburn Causes - Heartburn Prevention - Heartburn Treatment - GERD - GERD Causes - GERD Prevention - GERD Treatment. Retrieved April 4, 2011, from http://heartburn.about.com/od/diagno
References