General X-ray

General X-ray or radiography involves exposing a part of the body to a small amount of radiation in order to produce an image of that body part.  Commonly imaged areas of the body include the chest, for the diagnosis of pneumonia, and extremities, for the diagnosis of fractures.  For a chest x-ray, two views are commonly obtained and the exam is usually completed in about 15 minutes.  The advantage of a general x-ray is that it is fast and easy to obtain, but the information on a general x-ray can be limited.  For example, a small cancer may not be visible on a chest x-ray, but can be visible on a CT scan of the chest.  For this reason, general x-ray exams are often supplemented by other imaging exams such as CT, ultrasound, or MRI.  The radiation dose associated with a general x-ray is typically very low.  A chest x-ray, for example, results in a dose that is equivalent to 10 days of background radiation (0.1mSv).

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