Fluoroscopy, << flu ROS kuh pee, >> is a diagnostic medical procedure that uses X rays. It enables a physician to view the internal structure and processes of the body. Fluoroscopy produces an X-ray image of body organs actually functioning. Fluoroscopy differs from radiography, a more common X-ray process that produces still images on film. Physicians use fluoroscopy to view malfunctioning organs and to observe such medical procedures as the insertion of a catheter (tube) in an artery and the removal of foreign objects from the lungs or stomach.
Before a fluoroscopic examination of the digestive tract, the patient drinks a liquid containing a barium compound. Barium strongly absorbs X rays, and so the digestive organs show up more clearly in the image. The patient lies on a table. An X-ray tube is mounted beneath the table and a device called an image intensifier is suspended above the patient. X rays passing through the patient form an invisible image in the image intensifier. The image intensifier converts the X rays into a visible image that is recorded by a television camera. The physician views this image on a TV monitor.
Fluoroscopy uses relatively low doses of X rays. As a result, the risk of undesirable effects is small. The American inventor Thomas A. Edison developed the first practical fluoroscope in 1896.
