History of Fluoroscopy

The beginning of fluoroscopy can be traced back to November 8th 1895 when Wilhelm Röntgen noticed a barium platinocyanide screen fluorescing as a result of being exposed to what he would later call x-rays. Within months of this discovery, the first fluoroscopes were created. Early fluoroscopes were simply cardboard funnels, open at narrow end for the eyes of the observer, while the wide end was closed with a thin cardboard piece that had been coated on the inside with a layer of fluorescent metal salt. The fluoroscopic image obtained in this way is rather faint.




Due to the limited light produced from the fluorescent screens, early radiologists were required to sit in a darkened room, in which the procedure was to be performed, accustomizing their eyes to the dark and thereby increasing their sensitivity to the light. The placement of the radiologist behind the screen resulted in significant radiation doses to the radiologist. Red adaptation goggles were developed by Wilhelm Trendelenburg in 1916 to address the problem of dark adaptation of the eyes, previously studied by Antoine Beclere. The resulting red light from the goggles' filtration correctly sensitized the physician's eyes prior to the procedure while still allowing him to receive enough light to function normally.

The development of the X-ray image intensifier and the television camera in the 50's revolutionized fluoroscopy. The red adaptation goggles became obsolete as image intensifiers allowed the light produced by the fluorescent screen to be amplified, allowing it to be seen even in a lighted room. The addition of the camera enabled viewing of the image on a monitor, allowing a radiologist to view the images in a separate room away from the risk of radiation exposure.
More modern improvements in screen phosphors, image intensifiers and even flat panel detectors have allowed for increased image quality while minimizing the radiation dose to the patient. Modern fluoroscopes use CsI screens and produce noise-limited images, ensuring that the minimal radiation dose results while still obtaining images of acceptable quality.




The invention of X-ray image intensifiers in the 1950s allowed the image on the screen to be visible under normal lighting conditions, as well as providing the option of recording the images with a conventional camera. Subsequent improvements included the coupling of, at first, video cameras and, later, CCD cameras to permit recording of moving images and electronic storage of still images.

Modern image intensifiers no longer use a separate fluorescent screen. Instead, a caesium iodide phosphor is deposited directly on the photocathode of the intensifier tube. On a typical general purpose system, the output image is approximately 105 times brighter than the input image. This brightness gain comprises a flux gain (amplification of photon number) and minification gain (concentration of photons from a large input screen onto a small output screen) each of approximately 100. This level of gain is sufficient that quantum noise, due to the limited number of x-ray photons, is a significant factor limiting image quality.

Below I am posting Professor McLeod's presentation on Fluoroscopy, I feel it brings all the above together