Abstract

Perhaps the first instance of forensic radiography occurred in the 1890s when Professor AW Wright of Yale University tested Wilhelm Roentgen’s newly discovered x-ray photography on a deceased rabbit. Of interest were small, round objects inside the rabbit that appeared as dark spots on the positive film. The objects were extracted and identified as bullets, thereby helping to determine the cause of the rabbit’s death.¹

In the years since Roentgen’s discovery, the use of radiography and other medical imaging specialties to aid in investigating civil and criminal matters has increased as investigators realize how radiologic technology can yield information that otherwise is unavailable. Radiologic technologists can play a key role in forensic investigations.

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