Summary: Gather around, kids, and we will talk about the time when we held pieces
of acetate up to the sun and were able to make diagnoses from the
dancing gray hues we were presented with.
Dr. Phillips is a Professor of Radiology, Director of Head
and Neck Imaging, at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New
York–Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY. He is a member of the Applied Radiology Editorial Advisory Board.
I’ve
been accused of being too serious over the past few dissertations, so I
am going to rectify that. We have chatted about radiology and its
progress, and things that we can faintly remember, or that we thought
were good (and bad) about how we trained, and what this is all about. A
few months ago, we discussed antiquated terms. Well, I got lots of
response on those, and I heard from a number of you regarding a few
words that were neglected. Never let it be said I don’t bow to my
readers…
Alternator: Gather around, kids, and we will talk
about the time when we held pieces of acetate up to the sun and were
able to make diagnoses from the dancing gray hues we were presented
with. And, giants walked the earth. Film. Everyone older than 45, let’s
all sigh together… It could cut you bad. A paper cut was a mere nuisance
compared to a film cut. Radiologists needed some efficient method to
look at all those films. A big study might need 30 sheets of film. The
alternator was NOT a means to charge your car battery. It was a
motorized monstrosity that drove films into your view, hung on clear
panels, with an annoying clear string on constantly breaking plastic
clips. I never understood what exactly alternated. Well, except for the
function of the device. In that regard, it tended to not work a lot. And
jam. Those of you who think 5 minutes of downtime with PACS is bad have
never seen a king-hell alternator crash, with panels off track, films
behind the curtain, and the device making heinous metal sounds behind
the panel when you mashed on the switch to move panels and attempt to
work. Go out, and get lunch. See you back in a few hours.
Grease Pencil: Long
before annotations on PACS, we had colored pencils that left permanent
“radiologist tracks” on the films, called by a friend the “LHD” sign
(LOOK HERE, DUMMY). Red for urgent bad stuff. Yellow for “hey, pay
attention.” We did radiation targets with blue. I liked orange quite a
lot. It was my personal marker. I saw a green one, once. White or black
was used in some unimaginative areas. I’m not even sure you can buy
those markers anymore. Okay, I take that back. Just looked online, and
you can get them for marking up your PACS monitor. Remember the other
name? China marker. And those ridiculous strings that exposed more wax
to use, when the thing was worn down to a little nubbin. If you didn’t
like one (multiple breaks from being thrown across the room), you could
pull that string to infinity, and it became nonfunctional.
Xero vs. Film Mammography: This
was, believe it or not, a hot topic. Both camps would look down their
noses at the other. On my board exam, I was handed a xeromammogram, and
thought of those topographical maps that you get before a protracted
camping excursion. “We don’t do these at my institution.” “Tough.” What
do you see?” I had to resist saying Piney Mountain. I’m sure that there
are a few xeromammogram machines still around, used as paperweights.
So many more. We can hit this again, sometime. Keep enjoying life. Mahalo.