They shine, they sparkle, they look cool, but to a technologist and radiologist, they get in the way of diagnosing an x-ray exam. We’ve seen a lot of clothing that contains special material designed to catch our eye as they sparkle or “dazzle” in the light, but this material unfortunately appears on an x-ray image as an artifact. This is why our technologists may request your child to remove these types of clothing and wear a gown for the examination so that we can get the best images with little radiation exposure.
Below are some examples of “dazzle” clothing that show up during our x-ray exams.
Image: The lettering on the clothing spells “muscle!”
Image: The lettering “peace” can be seen above, as well as the metal rings on the belt.
Image: Lettering from a patient’s undergarment.
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Contributions by Catherine “Cathy” Ann Wieland, SPEC Tech.
Glenn Miñano is a media specialist in the Department of Radiology, providing graphic design, photography, printing, video services, and administration of the department’s online properties. His works have been published in several medical articles, such as the American Journal of Radiology and the American Institute of Ultrasound. He has been providing these services to the Radiology Department since 1996.
