@RADIOLO_GG
Exposing historical insights, and how x-rays and radiology helped to shape art, language, politics and culture. Radiology is much more than a medical marvel!
#1 BONE MUSIC
☭ 🎺🥁 “Music on the ribs” in the Soviet Union. Knowledge of such “bone music” was largely obscure even in Russia, until Stephen Coates from @realtuesdayweld researched this systematically. He came across one of these records by chance at a flea market in St Petersburg and his intrigue led him to set up the X-ray audio project, publishing a book, producing a documentary, and touring an exhibition around the world.
#2 AIR STUDY
Historically regarded as one of the most feared procedures in diagnostic medicine and described by patients to be akin to torture, Pneumoencephalography was often complemented by X-ray Tomography to improve visualisation of the brain. In the era before CT and MRI scans , these techniques — however unpleasant and imperfect — provided a crucial, if limited, window into intracranial disease and helped guide neurosurgical decisions. That both techniques are now obsolete stands as a testament not only to the extraordinary progress of medical imaging, but also to the resilience of the patients who endured them.
In The Exorcist (1973), Reagan MacNeil (Linda Blair) is seemingly demonically possessed and gets subjected to tests to decipher where specifically her affliction sits in terms of the realms of science and superstition. Director William Friedkin conducted in depth research to accurately present emerging scientific procedures and Catholic ritual. Pneumoencephalography is one of the medical tests recommended for Reagan to try pin down a brain lesion.
This movie, adapted from William Blatty’s novel (1971), created media frenzy, with increased reports of demon possessions, audience members convulsing and vomiting at screenings, and Catholic moral outrage. It was released in a context of trauma from the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, counterculture movements of civil rights and women’s rights, and alternative approaches to science and religion. It was also in the aftermath of the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (1962-1965), which addressed the relationship between the Catholic Church and the modern world. It was an exploration of the social and cultural issues of the long 1960s – an era where people were questioning central authorities and institutions, including government, church, business, and the sciences.
#3 MANUFACTURING X-RAY TOYS
This is a bespoke Interventional Neuroradiology themed Playmobil set. The arteriovenous malformation (AVM) on the screen - a Spetzler-Martin Grade III with feeders from the pericallosal artery and direct deep venous drainage - was successfully treated endovascularly using liquid embolic agent.
Not long after the discovery of X-rays in 1895, toy manufacturing quickly reflected the cultural fascination with this technology. By the early 1900s, toy makers were already producing “X-ray vision” spectacles and X-ray themed post cards. By the 1920s–1930s, they produced X-ray themed “magic toys” and science kits. Post-WWII, science kits exploded in popularity. By the 1950s “atomic-age” boom, some children’s science sets included Geiger counters (radiation detectors). As hospitals modernised in the 1980s, toy medical kits began including even more realistic representations of x-ray rooms, scanners, and surgical equipment.
#4 SCANNING THE PHAROAHS
Radiology enabled the systematic study of royal mummies, revealing mummification as an evolving, technically sophisticated practice. Through detailed analysis of excerebration and resin application, radiological studies shifted the field from conjecture to evidence-based reconstruction — most notably in the work of Egyptian neuroradiologist and paleoradiologist Dr Sahar Saleem.
Egyptian mummies have been extensively studied using radiographic techqniues of x-rays and CT scans. Ancient Egyptians practiced embalming to preserve their dead. While some organs were regarded as having a central spiritual significance, others did not. The heart for example, regarded as the seat of intelligence, emotion, and morality was essential for judgement in the afterlife, and therefore preserved. The brain on the other hand had no such significance, and therefore its preservation was unnecessary. More importantly, if left inside the skull, it liquifies rapidly and actually accelerates putrefaction and disfigurement of the head and face. Since facial integrity mattered for recognition in the afterlife, ancient Egyptians found a way to remove the brain without much delay and without disfiguring the face. This process appears more consistent in the Royal mummies, which have been extensively studied with CT scans.
They did this through the process of ‘excerebration’ - using hooked instruments (iron or bronze) passed through the nose, and breaching a thin bone at the front base of the skull known as the cribriform plate they directly accessed and removed the brain. This was followed by pouring a mixture of warmed liquid resins through the nose into the skull forming a protective internal cast that usually sedimented at the back of the head. This seems to be the case with all royal mummies studied, except for Tutankaman who has two separate sedimented resins with different CT densities, one at the back and another the top of the head, determined then by the position of the head while the resin was poured and cured. The face was meticulously preserved and prepared into a cosmetic ideal with smooth skin and youthful proportions for eternal existence.
Preserving the head and the face meant preserving their identity for the afterlife which was an essential spiritualistic ritual.
#5 CEREBRAL ANGIOGRAPHY
Cerebral angiography emerged as a means of localising brain lesions before evolving into a cornerstone of neurovascular imaging. Developed in the 1920s, it enabled more targeted neurosurgical planning in the absence of CT and MRI. In 1927, neurologist António Egas Moniz collaborated with neurosurgeon Pedro Almeida Lima to perform the first successful cerebral angiogram (aka. arterial encephalogram) in a living patient. This was developed specifically to localise brain lesions by evaluating displacement of the blood vessels in the brain, effectively as an alternative to ventriculography and pneumoencephalography. It was performed by puncturing the internal carotid artery at the neck or later by surgically exposing the same carotid artery to inject a die and capture arteries on x-rays of the head.
Inevitably, the technique proved fundamental to the assessment of neurovascular disease and, to this day, remains a gold standard - now far safer and more sophisticated. It is now a much safer procedure, often performed by puncturing a peripheral artery in the arm or leg and advancing a catheter into the vessels in the neck, with much improved imaging capabilities and image quality.
The cerebral angiogram scene from the Exorcist (1973) is very true to the real procedure as it was performed then. Anecdotally, audiences at the time found its realism deeply unsettling, more so than imagery of diabolical possessions, causing many to faint, vomit, and leave the theatre.
#6 WADA TEST
In the 1940s the sedative-hypnotic properties and dream-like states induced by Barbiturate drugs were routinely used to treat psychiatric patients, control seizures and treat soldiers traumatised by war. For this purpose these drugs were either ingested or injected into veins. Then in 1949 a Japanese publication by a Japanese Neurologist Juhn Atsushi Wada reported for the first time on the injection of Sodium Amytal directly into the arterial system. With the aid of cerebral angiography, Wada injected the right and left internal carotid arteries of psychiatric patients at the Uji Psychiatric Hospital. By injecting one side at a time, he selectively inactivated one brain hemisphere and then the other, which manifested in the patient temporarily losing the ability to move or feel one side of the body and losing the ability to speak when the side of the brain responsible for speech was injected. For the first time Wada demonstrated the ability to temporarily, reversibly and selectively inactivate a brain hemisphere in a reproducable manner.
This discovery confined to Japenese literature remained somewhat obscure to the international medical community, with not much practical application at the time...until in the mid-1950s Wada moved to the Montreal Neurological Institute in Canada. Here he worked with Neurosurgeon Theodore Rasmussen and integrated this test into epilepsy surgery protocols. It provided the first practical tool to test which brain hemisphere dominates the patient’s language and memory. Using the Wada test they could appreciate the risks and tailor resection of epileptic foci in the brain, namely resections of the temporal lobe. The technique became widely adopted in epilepsy centres around the world as a standard preoperative tool from the 1960s through to the 1990s. At which point, it started to be gradually replaced by non-invasive preoperative brain mapping techniques such as functional MRI (fMRI), alongside diffusion-based tractography and magnetoencephalography (MEG).
In carefully selected cases, the Wada test still holds its place…reserved for situations where MRI results are inconclusive, or in patients unable to undergo MRI.
#7 PLASTINATION
In 1977, Gunther von Hagens introduced plastination, later refining the technique in the late 20th century to create exquisitely preserved thin cadaveric sections that closely resemble the cross-sectional anatomy interpreted by radiologists.
Cross-sectional anatomy dates back to the 19th century, when the founder of topographical anatomy, Nikolai Pirogov, used cadavers to create the first frozen sections of the human body. This laid the foundation for how we understand anatomy in cross-section. In the 20th century, this concept was transformed into non-invasive, high-resolution imaging through CT and MRI.
(Exhibits from the Body Worlds Amsterdam by Gunther von Hagens)
#7 WASP WAIST X-RAYS
From the late 1860s through the early 1890s, The Lancet published many articles explaining the corset’s effects on organ health, costal breathing, and rib structure. Social backlash against bound support labelled women seeking a “wasp waist” as criminals with perverted tastes who intentionally harmed their childbearing abilities for the sake of vanity. In 1908 Dr Ludovic O’Followell published ‘Le Corset’ using early X-ray studies to evaluate its effects on the human body. His work draws heavily on earlier medical opinions and literature. Ironically, while it lists symptoms of corseting damage and makes a case for reducing their harm, the text is notably presented alongside advertisements for what are visibly equally restrictive tight-laceable products. His observations and claim that damage was self-inflicted by alterations made to the undergarment are challenged by anthropologist and corsetry scholar Rebecca Gibson in ‘The Corseted Skeleton: A Bioarchaeology of Binding’ (2020). In a subsequent publication - “Theorizing with incorrect data: A new look at the historical inaccuracies of the bioarchaeology of corsets”, she argues that the photographs and radiographs in ‘Le Corset’ appear to be manipulated or composite images.
A tightly laced corset could reduce lung capacity, irritate skin, and weaken back and chest muscles. Other effects were likely exaggerated in contemporary medical literature. Whether tight lacing caused long-term health issues, like reduced pelvis size, constipation and digestive issues, and reproductive problems ranging from miscarriage to uterine prolapse, is more difficult to assess and remains unclear. For example, some argue that uterine prolapse was more likely the result of multiple pregnancies rather than the corset. However, the evidence is much clearer for other ailments once attributed to the corset, such as postpartum infections, childbed fever, or breast cancer.
Calls and proposals were made to restrict or discourage corset use for women thirty years or younger, punishable by imprisonment and fines. In effect, it was World War I that ended their use. Women could not work in factories or the field while wearing restrictive clothing. Once household staff went to work for the war effort, upper-class women had no one to help them dress. Girdles and bras took over the corset’s supporting role.
#8 CAPUT MEDUSAE
“Caput medusae” sign - Latin for “head of Medusa” - takes its name from the snake-haired Gorgon of Greek mythology. In radiology, this evocative term describes two distinct entities united by a common visual pattern. In the abdomen, it refers to dilated, tortuous veins radiating from the umbilicus in patients with severe portal hypertension, often due to liver disease. In the brain, it describes a developmental venous anomaly, where numerous small veins converge radially into a prominent central draining vein. In both cases, the radiating vascular pattern echoes Medusa’s serpentine hair - an enduring example of how mythological imagery continues to shape the language of anatomy and medical imaging.