General > General Technical Chat
X-Ray Machine in USA (scenario)
james_s:
The way it typically works in the USA is it's legal to own almost anything, but in the case of an xray machine it may not be legal to actually operate it. I've bought several different dental xray heads and never had any issues. I got a complete machine for free at one point and just had to sign a waiver releasing the business that gave it to me of any liability. There are all sorts of regulations around operating one in a business but I have not really looked into what would be required to legally operate one at home. There are fully enclosed interlocked machines such as those used for mail inspection that are less tightly regulated than the medical/dental diagnostic systems.
The main thing if you do decide to do this is to take great care to NEVER expose someone to radiation, that is going to open a huge can of liability worms. If you are taking xrays of inanimate objects in your basement nobody is likely to bother you. If you try operating a discount medical or dental clinic taking xrays of body parts at home that's going to get you in a mess. Liability aside, if you decide to mess with this stuff you need to take safety VERY seriously. Ionizing radiation is no joke and even a small dental head can kill you or cause serious injury. Think of how painful a bad sunburn is and then think what it would feel like to have a bad sunburn all the way through part of your body.
amyk:
Also remember that inverse-square law applies too.
james_s:
Yes that's a good point too, distance is your best shield, they are also heavily attenuated by concrete. Xrays are photons, they behave very much like light, spreading out from the point source of the electron beam striking the anode. Also I've heard of some hobbyists kludging something together with a bare tube, that's just stupid IMHO. Dental heads are inexpensive, very well shielded, easy to use, they're a self contained unit with a HV transformer and filament transformer, newer ones have a high frequency transformer and multiplier in the head. Normally they produce a narrow beam and place the film very close to the tube however if you are imaging inanimate objects you have the luxury of taking a much longer exposure which makes it possible to image much larger objects than would typically be done with a dental machine.
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