When Wilhelm Rontgen discovered X-rays in the 1890s, he almost immediately discovered the imaging applications of this hitherto-unknown type of radiation, and experts in the medical community and the industrial nondestructive testing community rapidly seized on the potential this new science of radiography offered.

Radiographic inspection is a critical practice across multiple industries, and the development of non-film radiography provides enormous, yet currently untapped, potential to share these images widely and maximize resources.

Radiographs have been interpreted since Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen first observed the X-ray of his wife’s hand back in 1896. The process of radiographic interpretation consists of many variables with the major objective being achieving the highest possible quality level or sensitivity.

As nondestructive examination (NDE) continues to evolve as an inspection discipline, so the technologies of NDE evolve to meet new challenges in terms of materials and material geometries to be inspected. 

Industrial radiography (RT) is a time-tested technique for examining a welded joint and the heat-affected zone after manufacturing.

For over a decade, 2D digital radiography (DR) has been aggressively replacing film radiography in applications spanning across most industries. DR image quality continues to improve with higher quality and faster speed flat panel detectors being offered.

Two dimensional X-ray inspection is a nondestructive technology which has been used for some decades in the electronics manufacturing sector and much longer in oil and gas and general engineering.