X-Ray Photography Safety: Risks, Precautions, and Resources

[ArixII]

Hi,
(I'm not native in English, sorry for if bad English)

Some background:
As a programmer I got more and more distance with physics. I bought a US x-ray tube off ebay to step to a hobby project that naturally keeps me on with refreshing physics knowledge. After the tube came, I jumped into internet and hit head to an article about Edison's assistant's cancer out of x-ray. The fear of 'making health problems' introduced a huge force vector in negative direction and I stayed blocked with my project for 1 year (till now).

Well, fear is no good. Newly I finished a small robot that could be directed from internet, by wifi. I now can use that in my initial x-ray project and not be presented where x-ray is active.

I need to know for safety:
1. how far the device must be from me
2. how long should I not to enter the place after x-ray photography
3. what best / cheapest measurement instruments I must buy to study the environment (I'd like to obtain 2 instruments from 2 different producers, put in the environment and fix a web camera on them, then read before entering the place).

realization:
1. where can I get information to first test the tube I bought and know if it is alive
2. what is the best schematics to put the tube to work.

I would appreciate your kind help in pointing to articles, tutorials online and suggestions / answers for above questions.

 

[davenn]

hi there
welcome to the PF forums :)

you are embarking of a seriously dangerous project for 2 main reasons.
firstly the very hi voltage needed for the X-ray tube and
secondly the X-rays themselves

This is NOT a project that I would suggest you do on your own. You need serious guidance from a well qualified electronics technician who is well versed in dealing with EHT voltages and preferably from another technician with experience with X-ray generation equip.

1. how far the device must be from me

if the unit is in a sealed lead lined room, you are safe on the outside of the room


2. how long should I not to enter the place after x-ray photography

X-rays are present only as long as the tube is energised, just as in a normal light globe...
its on or off.


3. what best / cheapest measurement instruments I must buy to study the environment (I'd like to obtain 2 instruments from 2 different producers, put in the environment and fix a web camera on them, then read before entering the place).

This question is very vague. Specifically, what do you want to study ?
I could answer ... 2 instruments ... a microscope and a seismograph!
but maybe you don't want them ??

cheers
Dave

 

[marcusl]

I'd like to repeat davenn's caution statements. Running a homebuilt X-ray machine is potentially extremely dangerous. As you know, X-rays can pass through walls, ceilings, etc. Without proper shielding, you can irradiate yourself, your neighbors, and passers-by with harmful X-rays. This is a project to undertake with advice from someone who designs and installs medical or industrial X-ray equipment.

 

[ArixII]

Davenn,
Thank you for the caution notes and answers. Actually, the danger I realized in it, stopped me until now for a whole year.

I'm a 36y.o. software engineer, so not that much in kid age to 'play' with danger.

To turn back to the project, I defined a small set of rules for me:
1. human should not be presented physically in, or near the place when I turn on the device
2. before entering back to the place, I must read measurement devices via internet, and safety parameters be proved.

The worst cases I defined:
1. suppose I send the command to turn off the device from internet and come back to place. By error introduced by me in design, the relay won't work and the tube is still on!
2. ok, I put measurement instruments (what sort? how to read?) that I can check from internet and make sure with the level of x-ray in the environment before going there, this seems acceptable, but well, what if the measurement instrument I bought is defected!

The only theoretical solution that came to my mind is that I must buy 2 different measurement instruments from 2 different producers that measure the same thing, then monitor both of them. Probability of both of them be defected is lower.

What I'm now looking for, is like what we need in software practice before doing (programming): a (safe) requirement list. I hope I can soon gather the safety requirement list that I run on my rule-set.



Thank you again)

 

[ArixII]

I'd like to repeat davenn's caution statements. Running a homebuilt X-ray machine is potentially extremely dangerous. As you know, X-rays can pass through walls, ceilings, etc. Without proper shielding, you can irradiate yourself, your neighbors, and passers-by with harmful X-rays. This is a project to undertake with advice from someone who designs and installs medical or industrial X-ray equipment.

Marcusl,
Thank you, I won't do it without safety requirement list. There would be no neighbors where I'd do it. There is a village out of the city I plan to realize the device in, and command by internet from city. The passers-by, yes, is a danger and I must study safety parameters. Well, I thought that one solution is to put the device in a basement shielded. But what shielding?

Please point me to deeper info, if possible, on these:
-...irradiate yourself,...
-...Without proper shielding...

Theoretically, if I exactly know the parameters which introduce "irradiation state" in a human, I can monitor them and avoid getting to that state. Also, having a nice cnc machine which I use for hobby robot case making, I can make an accurate shielding, covering the final device.

I design in 3D in Autodesk Inventor and turn that to g-code, then use Mach3 to perform machining.

I don't know the material to use for shielding. Please point me to information.

 

[davenn]

Davenn,
Thank you for the caution notes and answers. Actually, the danger I realized in it, stopped me until now for a whole year.
I'm a 36y.o. software engineer, so not that much in kid age to 'play' with danger.

You age is not the point, your lack of electronics experience is.

1) Have you ever worked on, build or repaired equipment that is generating well over 1000 Volts ?

2) Do you have any significant electronics building experience ?


If you answer NO to one or both of those, then you are at risk of killing yourself
DO NOT proceed any further till you take heed of what I said in my earlier post
I will repeat...
This is NOT a project that I would suggest you do on your own. You need serious guidance from a well qualified electronics technician who is well versed in dealing with EHT voltages and preferably from another technician with experience with X-ray generation equip.

failing to heed that means that you could kill yourself just in the construction of the power supply long before its connected to the X-ray tube.

You are an admitted software engineer, not an electronics tech ... I'm not giving you these wanings just for the fun of it. This is really serious!

cheers
Dave