ABSTRACT
For the most part, the initial radiographic applications of X-rays were devoted to fractures, dislocations and congenital abnormalities of bony structures, to the thorax, to foreign body localisation of items such as bullets and swallowed coins, and calculi. The shoulders and the lower extremities are raised to obtain a closer positioning of the spine to the X-ray plate. A certain amount of compression is required and shows the compression apparatus of Albers-Schonberg which was one of the more popular designs. Turning now to gall stones, prior to 1924, when Graham and Cole published in the Journal of the American Medical Association their method of gallbladder diagnosis using intravenous injection of tetra-bromophenolphthalein, gallbladder studies were by ordinary radiograph, although these were supplemented in some cases by the injection of air or of opaque material into the stomach, duodenum and colon.
