Siemens Healthineers MedMuseum
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Reinforcements for surgeons
![Durchleuchtung mit Kryptoskop und dem transportablen Röntgenapparat Nanos, 1932](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/9967effc30a38c1b/ace17785df61/v/601c81700276/Siemens-Healthineers_Nanos-bei-der-Durchleuchtung_1932.jpg)
X-rays in the operating room
Reinforcements for surgeons
![Röntgenuntersuchung mit dem Unipuls-Röntgenapparat.](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/c34d1f5d75d5944a/39a3032a7f5f/v/5c95de684247/Siemens-Healthineers_Unipuls-Roentgenapparat_1910.jpg)
An X-ray examination using the Unipuls X-ray apparatus: The exposed high-voltage cables ran from the induction coil (in the cabinet) to the tube. Advertising photo, 1910
![Zahnärztlichen Röntgeneinrichtung aus dem Jahr 1909](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/1260928f04b41cbe/8b6a58302c11/v/414695409519/SiemensHealthineers_Zahnaerztliches-Roentgeninstrumentarium_1909.jpg)
The photo of this dental X-ray system from 1909 clearly shows how close the physician and patient came to the exposed high-voltage cables.The photo of this dental X-ray system from 1909 clearly shows how close the physician and patient came to the exposed high-voltage cables.
![Hochfrequenz-Laboratorium um 1910](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/79e3b989eaa4fc5c/1ab6aec9b70a/v/723b9c01198d/SiemensHealthineers_Hochfrequenz-Laboratorium_1910.jpg)
Electric “firework” in a high-frequency laboratory, c. 1910
![Durchleuchtungsbilder aufgenommen mit der Siemens-Röntgenkugel, 1951](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/34971af7aca8d77c/68d4cfc62c14/v/3dbbac1caff6/Siemens-Healthineers_Durchleuchtung-Roentgen_1951kugel_.jpg)
These two examples give an impression of what fluoroscopic images looked like. Tissues that absorbed less X-radiation appeared as brighter areas in the image. Bones, for example, which have a high X-ray absorptivity, appeared as dark areas on the fluorescent screen. Marketing brochure for the Siemens X-ray Sphere, 1951
![Kryptoskop, 1897](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/50ecf708c351cdd7/b12d2ea64adc/v/5175782b1c10/Siemens-Healthineers_Kryptoskop_1897.jpg)
The solution came in the form of a device known as the cryptoscope – a pyramid-shaped box with a viewing window on the top and a fluorescent screen on the bottom that allowed fluoroscopic examinations to be performed even in bright rooms. Photo from 1897
![Durchleuchtung mit Kryptoskop und dem transportablen Röntgenapparat Nanos, 1932](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/9967effc30a38c1b/ace17785df61/v/601c81700276/Siemens-Healthineers_Nanos-bei-der-Durchleuchtung_1932.jpg)
A fluoroscopic examination with the cryptoscope and the Nanos portable X-ray system: The development of compact and mobile X-ray systems was another key milestone in the use of X-rays in the operating room. Advertising photo from 1932
![Fußröntgengeräte](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/02bd4d108f2a386f/7ee27bbd71e2/v/94b7a34e36be/Siemens-Healthineers_Fussroentgengeraete.jpg)
Some readers may remember similar devices known as shoe-fitting fluoroscopes. Here, a housing containing a transformer and X-ray tube was fitted with a viewing box that fulfilled the same purpose as a cryptoscope: Regardless of the ambient illumination, the image on the fluorescent screen could be used to determine the correct shoe fit – and it could even be viewed by several people at once. The devices were still found in German shoe shops until the 1970s.
![Siemens Bildverstärker-Durchleuchtungseinrichtung](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/791df5759c18c87e/787cce6637d0/v/14376f615d12/Siemens-Healthineers_Bildverstaerker-Durchleuchtungs-Einrichtung_1958.jpg)
Schematic diagram of the mode of operation of an image intensifier with an optical viewing system: SRW marketing pamphlet, 1958
![Funktionsweise eines Bildverstärkers](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/a9a7f60c290b1966/ef2842ecbe5a/v/1e2cfb96142b/Siemens-Healthineers_Prinzip-Bildverstaerker.jpg)
In the image-intensifier tube, the X-rays would strike the input fluorescent screen and produce a fluoroscopic image, just as in a normal fluoroscopic examination. The difference here, however, was that the input screen was connected to a photocathode that emitted electrons when struck by light from the fluorescent screen – the brighter the light, the more electrons were emitted. In the image intensifier, the electrons were then accelerated by an electric field and focused onto the output fluorescent screen by electrodes in the electron-optical system. Although the image produced on the output screen was smaller, it was crucially several times brighter and could either be viewed through a lens system or captured using a camera.
![Die erste Bildverstärker-Durchleuchtungseinrichtung von Siemens, 1957](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/695d21f6210d19e6/90f751d63d8c/v/59788ba05634/Siemens-Healthineers_Bildverstaerker-Durchleuchtungs-Einrichtung_1957.jpg)
The first image-intensifier fluoroscopy system from Siemens was launched in 1957 and consisted of a C-arm with an image intensifier and an X-ray tube, as well as the Monodor portable X-ray system.
![Das Siremobil 4, 1987](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/7fd756b5e4f3e358/e08bcf491396/v/9453140f4fb2/Siemens-Healthineers_Siremobil-4_1987.jpg)
The Siremobil 4, 1987
![Stefan Dirnberger](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/5def40dffa508fd5/3ccad01fbdd0/v/fd0a86a972fe/Siemens-Healthineers_Stefan-Dirnberger.jpg)
![Stefan Dirnberger](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/5def40dffa508fd5/3ccad01fbdd0/v/fd0a86a972fe/Siemens-Healthineers_Stefan-Dirnberger.jpg)
Expert for History Communication and Historian at the Siemens Healthineers Historical Institute