X-Rays on the Cheap
Scanners replace costly film
By Lisa Scanlon

Two-thirds of the world’s population is without access to x-ray systems, which can help to diagnose conditions such as tuberculosis or reveal the exact position of limb fractures. Richard Lanza, a senior research scientist in the MIT Department of Nuclear Engineering, hopes to change that by creating a low-cost system that combines conventional x-ray machines with inexpensive off-the-shelf computer scanners, eliminating the need for film.

The system would be a breakthrough, because the cost of x-ray film and its development is simply too high for health providers in many poor countries to manage. Even a relatively cheap x-ray system can cost about $7,000. Digital x-ray systems exist today, but they are high-end machines that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Lanza’s proposed system works like this: x-rays pass through a patient’s body and are captured by a modified commercial scanner hooked up to a desktop computer, which processes the image and displays it on its monitor. Lanza’s idea is attracting interest. A Shanghai, China, imaging company has donated a low-cost x-ray tube for use in the prototype. Although Lanza warns that it’s too early to say for certain, he hopes that the system could be created in quantity for about $2,000.