Tomography x-ray machine with couch, used at Preston Hall Hospital, Kent, made by Sanitas, Freidrichstrasse Bld., Berlin, Germany, 1933-1940.

X-ray machines are used by radiographers to acquire an image of the body’s skeletal structure. X-rays can also be used to detect disease or abnormalities in soft tissue such as the chest. A tomography machine creates X-ray images of sections or slices of the body, known as tomograms. This was a new technique in the 1930s. It diagnosed diseases such as pulmonary tuberculosis more effectively.

The use of tomography in England was pioneered by Dr J B McDougall at Preston Hall Hospital in Kent. This example was presented to the Wellcome collections by the hospital in 1964.