When I was 15, for reasons I'm still not yet sure of, I let some folks in an IRC channel convince me it was a good idea to design a battery powered x-ray system. I accepted the challenge, and over the course of the next year, learned all that was necessary to build such a device.

Then, I built one. Composed mostly of parts from old power supplies, televisions, and what I could buy on ebay, it wasn't the prettiest x-ray source, but, it did in fact work.

-

X-Ray Mk. 1

-

But, didn't do a whole lot afterward with it.

In March of 2014, after finishing up a new hackerspace project at RIT, I learned of a WHO study that reported only 1/3 of the world's population has access to medical radiography. For a century-old technology this seemed absolutely absurd, and so, I took interest in solving that obscure, yet very real, problem.

Over the course of a month or so, I drew some artwork detailing what an ideal x-ray solution could look like, both inside and out. I did my best to design things piratically, given the current state of power electronics and x-ray technology.

-

Power Source Front

-

Power Source Back

-

X-ray Emitter 1

-

X-ray Emitter 2

-

X-ray Emitter 3

-

X-ray Detector 1

-

X-ray Detector 2

-

User Interface

-

Following this, I put together a proposal which described in detail the proposed machine, how persons would operate the device, and, about how much it would cost. I was hoping that someone might take interest in working with me, to build it.

Synopsis of the device

-

What were the results of this proposal?

Unfortunately, a whole lot of raised eyebrows, "nice idea kid" comments, and nothing more.

At the time, I thought this meant that I hadn't done enough research into the subject, or, explained exactly why a 19 year old student would be capable of designing such a device. And so, I went on to do more research, to build a more convincing case that this was possible...