15-year-old high school student builds a portable x-ray machine

Circumstances result into actions! Adam Munich decided to build an affordable, reliable and battery powered x-ray machine when he was 15. It all started when he learnt about the hardships faced by two of his acquaintances, who suffered due to rolling electricity blackouts and lack of x-ray machine infrastructure in their countries. He started reading extensively about Coolidge tubes on the internet; essential radiation emitters for most commercial machines. Eventually he bought one from a Chinese manufacturer, while he was still experimenting with nixie tubes, chainsaw oil and various tit bit electronics from around the world.

A Portable x-ray machine

Picture Gallery

Portable x-ray machine

Designed and developed by Adam Munich

The machine he bought was split into two parts, a connecting box and a case containing x-ray tubes along with high voltage components that drive it. A matching suitcase was used for enclosing the two components of the machine. Holes were drilled on the lid for the on/off switch; dials were fixed to set exposure time, meters for monitoring current and voltage too were installed.

For producing images, a high voltage current inside the x-ray tube transfers electrons to a tungsten target, which slams into atoms and eventually lose energy to emit x-rays. These x-ray flashes ahead to create an image. Unlike others that use flat panel radiation detectors for pictures, Munich used plastic sheet that turns fluorescent when ionized, as the later almost saved him $65,000.A battery alone would not be sufficed for the voltage he wanted, therefore installed extra capacitators to increase the voltage to a whopping 75,000 volts.

To make his machine a safe device, he built his own Geiger counter for measuring the maount of radiation. He was able to manage the volume of x-ray coming out of tubes and also installed a speaker that would buzz in case of any contingency. Despite the safety measures, he uses the machine only outside in the woods to avoid any chance of the radiation to bounce off into the house.

To the present day, his machine is capable of x-raying household items, pens and computer hard drives. Munich is now focused on cutting the cost of the machine down to $200 and aims advance forward with the development of this theoretical machine so that soon he has a more practical and real life device that would help the like of his friend across the globe.

Via: Popsci