High Schooler Builds Portable X-Ray Machine

[Grey Day for Elcia]

High Schooler Builds Portable X-Ray Machine

Student puts other high school science projects to shame.

With a bit of research and tenacity, a high school student by the name of Adam Munich has completed probably one of the most interesting science projects to date: a fully-operational, portable, battery-powered X-ray machine.

Munich was inspired to build the portable device after speaking with two friends online, one of whom lived in Pakistan and complained about the rolling electricity blackouts affecting his country, and another whose local hospital had problems finding a working X-ray machine to help him deal with a broken leg. After doing some research and learning that there actually aren't any portable, battery powered X-ray machines out there, Munich took it upon himself to build one from scratch.

Munich started this ambitious project by reading online about the inner workings of Coolidge tubes (the radiation-emitting cores of most commercial machines) and was able to buy one from a manufacturer located in China.

"The rest was puzzle-solving," Munich says. "For something like this, there's no guide."

Munich then spent the next two years constructing the X-ray device out of some old art suitcases, chainsaw oil and a mix of electronics he acquired from around the world. And just to be sure he wasn't going to irradiate himself, Munich also constructed a Geiger counter to measure the device's output.

The entire device cost Munich approximately $700 dollars, and while he's only used the device to X-ray some household items, he also believes it could be used for hands and limbs as well. Currently, Munich's working to make a more durable, cheaper version of his device.

Source & Image: Popular Science [http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2012-04/you-built-what-portable-x-ray-machine]

Permalink

Your source is broken. "Page not found"

Either you did a bad link or they took it down.

 

[Andrew_C]

Brb, ordering radioactive stuff in China.

Light bulbs are not radioactive.

Okay, okay, they are not light bulbs, they are vacuum tubes.

Neither are Coolidge Tubes. They use a tungsten filament. They just emit X-Ray radiation. But I'm being overly pedantic.

Coolidge Tubes are vacuum tubes (which look like light bulbs), just fancier.

I know that, they are a very specific sort of vacuum tube. like I said I was being overly pedantic.

I also think it's wonderful that there are still places were it's OK for teenagers to do stuff like this.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

It could well be a fake. The source page has been taken down and there's nothing else to go off. The only person claiming it works is the person who made it and even then they only go so far as to say it's been used on household items.

It smells and I'm calling it. Fake.

 

[Some_weirdGuy]

in b4 "meh, i've done better at half that age!" old farts

*que grumpy old man voice* back in my day we walked 600 kilometers through the snow with a broken spine, grazed elbows and three broken legs just to think about inventing a portable xray machine, and don't even get me started on actually building the damn thing...


Kids these days... *shakes fist*

 

[Lectori Salutem]

Brb, ordering radioactive stuff in China.

Light bulbs are not radioactive.

Okay, okay, they are not light bulbs, they are vacuum tubes.

X-ray emitting vacuum tubes... Close enough.
In before '50s X-ray gun

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

in b4 "meh, i've done better at half that age!" old farts

*que grumpy old man voice* back in my day we walked 600 kilometers through the snow with a broken spine, grazed elbows and three broken legs just to think about inventing a portable xray machine, and don't even get me started on actually building the damn thing...


Kids these days... *shakes fist*

hahaha, was a nice quote to wake up to.

but, in reality, was just sayin, sometimes there are very bitter old people on here who snuff at anything young people seem to accomplish.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

It could well be a fake. The source page has been taken down and there's nothing else to go off. The only person claiming it works is the person who made it and even then they only go so far as to say it's been used on household items.

It smells and I'm calling it. Fake.

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2012-04/you-built-what-portable-x-ray-machine

source works fine for me maybe its a regional thing, can screenshot if need be.

Oh really? That's... weird. I don't see any reason for it to be region locked (I'm in Australia). Maybe a server issue? Odd.

Page Not Found
The page you were looking for could not be found.

Please click the following to link to open the homepage or click on one of the sections below.

That's all I get. WEIRD.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

It could well be a fake. The source page has been taken down and there's nothing else to go off. The only person claiming it works is the person who made it and even then they only go so far as to say it's been used on household items.

It smells and I'm calling it. Fake.

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2012-04/you-built-what-portable-x-ray-machine

source works fine for me maybe its a regional thing, can screenshot if need be.

Oh really? That's... weird. I don't see any reason for it to be region locked (I'm in Australia). Maybe a server issue? Odd.

Page Not Found
The page you were looking for could not be found.

Please click the following to link to open the homepage or click on one of the sections below.

The reasons for the locking rarely make sense, its the reason i can't watch jon stewart

but OT did you want a screenshot of the page?
That's all I get. WEIRD.

You can't watch Jon Stewart? Well that's... dumb.

Nah, no thanks. I'll take your word for it. Just super weird that it's not coming through for me. Such is life!

 

[1337mokro]

Dies from radiation exposure.

To be honest, this kicks ass. It´s a 700$ X-ray machine. A Seven Hundred Dollar X-ray Machine that is portable. A regular machine costs anywhere between 6000-7000 dollars. He made one for a tenth of the price. The X-ray even seems accurate enough to be used as a diagnostic device or for security checks.

If this goes through and he patents it he could make allot of money from this. Tons of benefit organizations or poorer hospitals would kill for a 700$ portable x-ray device they could just stuff in the back of a Jeep and drive to a village with.

Hoping this is not a hoax.

 

[Vivi22]

Well, he needs to get this patented straight away. I can't see why this couldn't be an invention that makes him a lot of money.

Indeed. Assuming it was perfectly safe to use on people I can't see how a portable battery powered X-Ray wouldn't be useful, particularly in countries which don't have access to this stuff as readily as we do. And $700 to build? Damn that strikes me as being cheap.

 

[FoolKiller]

Now if only we could attach a high speed camera to it, UFC fights would get really interesting.

It would turn into the special attacks during Mortal Kombat. I like your thinking.

 

[Darks63]

So who else when they read this thought he made it to see through clothes at his high school?

 

[RJ Dalton]

I'm surprised nobody's made a joke about peeking in the girl's locker room yet. I mean, it's an easy joke, but I always thought that's what the internet was famous for.

I'm also surprised nobody's made something like this before. I mean the practical applications should be obvious.

 

[Yopaz]

I'm surprised nobody's made a joke about peeking in the girl's locker room yet. I mean, it's an easy joke, but I always thought that's what the internet was famous for.

I'm also surprised nobody's made something like this before. I mean the practical applications should be obvious.

Well, the main reason no-one has made that joke before is that most of this community knows how x-rays work and knows you wont be able to view soft material using x-rays, but rather the parts that absorb ionizing radiation. Such as bone or the walls you would be trying to look through.

Portable medical devices like this isn't unheard of. There's already a portable X-ray machine usually used in cases where moving a person can be dangerous.