St Vincents Private Hospitals

A chest X-ray is a common type of imaging procedure that uses a very small amount of radiation to produce pictures of the heart, lungs, airways, and bones inside your chest. It helps your doctor see how well your organs are working, and to identify any structural changes that may indicate a particular heart condition. 

If you are experiencing any kind of chest pain or shortness of breath, a chest X-ray is usually the first test performed to determine whether there are any heart or lung problems, broken bones, or evidence of cancer as well as to potentially identify another health condition. 

How does is it work?

Chest X-rays work by using a focused beam of radiation to look closely at your heart, lungs, and bones, which then records an image on a special machine. This quick and non-invasive test can show your doctor the size, shape and location of your heart, lungs, airways, arteries, and chest wall. As each part of your body allows a different amount of radiation to pass through, doctors are able to use the images to diagnose different health conditions. 

Bones will appear white on an X-ray image as they are very dense and absorb much of the radiation, whereas lungs will appear grey. A chest X-ray should only take a few minutes to complete, and the pictures are ready to review shortly after.