Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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x-ray machine next to the photo booth in the post office

if you think you may have broken a smallish bone, you are in pain but hesitant to spend a day in casualty:- take a quick snap of yourself while waiting to get your child benefit or renewing your road tax disc.
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there are times when a smallish bone can be fractured but there is little the hospital can do except pat you on the head, give you a knob of sugar and some painkillers and send you on your way.

place x-ray machines in public places (yet private enough to retain one’s modesty) for a quick photo shoot. put the offending bodily part up to the screen, push coins in the slot, keep still and push on button – easy. (a backdrop is optional – for future possible framing purposes). the machine would come with an email facility for sending the picture to a radiographer who will forward the results to your self at home (and possibly a copy to your doctor) with advice as to your future treatment.

this service will mean

a. less time hanging about for the patient

b. less valuable time wasted by the doctors and nurses,

c. less waiting times for those in genuine need.

po, Sep 11 2002

VHEMT http://www.vhemt.org/
A bit pessimistic I think. [sild, Sep 11 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Pierced Peoples' Insides http://www.zentasti...s/200505131335.html
Pictures of peoples' aftermarket holes. [stilgar, Nov 28 2006]

[link]






       I forsee a long line of 12-yr-olds wanting to X-ray their boners.
General Washington, Sep 11 2002
  

       Uncontrolled, unrestricted access to doses of ionizing radiation. No thanks.   

       In a medical centre, with supervision - well, maybe. But if you've got that far, they should be able to provide a radiograper to do a proper job.   

       In the 50's and 60's, shoe shops had minature X-ray machines for while-u-wait examination of client's feet. Not sure if they caused any great problems, but you don't see them around any more.
8th of 7, Sep 11 2002
  

       d. less healthy sperm counts.   

       po - are you a member of VHEMT?
sild, Sep 11 2002
  

       Not long ago, many shoe shops had X-ray machines.
angel, Sep 11 2002
  

       angel: I thought I said that already ....
8th of 7, Sep 11 2002
  

       [sild] no, I am not recommending regular use. how often do you get a picture taken in the photo booth?
po, Sep 12 2002
  

       [8th]: Yeah, you did, sorry. That what comes of 'baking at the end of an 11-hour work day.
angel, Sep 12 2002
  

       You could integrate the x-ray machine into the photo booth where one could choose an exterior and/or interior photo.
FarmerJohn, Sep 12 2002
  

       it is just nice to *know* if there is something broken - show the proof to your friends and family, elicit sympathy, have a day off without associated guilt.
po, Sep 12 2002
  

       [8th of 7] - Actually there's a shoeshop in Fulham which still has their foot X-Ray machine, but they don't use it any more.
Why X-Rays - why not have an NMR scanner in the Post Office?
hippo, Sep 12 2002
  

       hippo: Because the waiting list for an NMR scan on the NHS is about 7 months, and the queue at the post office is much, much longer ......
8th of 7, Sep 12 2002
  

       Those X-ray machines in shoe stores.....My mother used to let me play on them while she tried on shoes. No idea how much radiation my feet took while I checked out my toes. I keep wondering if my feet will curl up and fall off one day.
TeaTotal, Sep 12 2002
  

       I did think of protective garments but decided to make the screen itself adjustable in size so that only the hurtee place is exposed to the x-ray radiation. did I not mention that?
po, Sep 13 2002
  

       The X-ray cam aiming systems I've seen use a coaxial light source and barndoor-type lead shutters to control the aperture - with a long enough "nozzle" the beam should be fairly well collimated and you're not looking at much in the way of off-axis dose, shirely ? My experience with ionizing radiation in Other Places showed me that it's pretty directional. So you tweak the little joystick (or whatever) until the patch of light is just illuminating the "hurtee bit" and then click ..... Bzzzzzzzzz.... click .... and it's all over. With a scintilation counter mounted behind the plate to integrate the dose, you can probably make a good guess at the exposure. Or use an X-ray camera ....   

       However, as something that allows the General Public to go and dose themselves with X-rays at the drop of a coin, I still think it's a poor idea. Why not just drive up to Sunny Sellafield and take the coach tour ? It's all free, folks ....
8th of 7, Sep 13 2002
  

       I think its a good idea to reduce cost. I would however put it in a hospital, where in they can keep track of the number of uses, and stop you before you fry yourself.   

       Now if only someone can make a coin op diagnostic unit for all the kids with colds that show up at urgent care to give their colds to all the health care workers.   

       Such a autodiagnostic device could be located at day care centers to reduce the demand for health care and keep costs low, plus reduce the prevalence of colds etc amongst health care workers
amuron, Dec 31 2002
  

       Sign me up VHEMT, I don't think we, umm humans, get enough radiation.
sartep, May 04 2003
  

       This would be pretty cool but fairly useless for a lot of //smallish bone//s, rads are difficult to read without experience, especially on the little bones. Would surely be popular with pierced people though.
stilgar, Nov 26 2006
  

       pierced people? oh dear, oh my - how sad.   

       <drops a penny in the tin>
po, Nov 27 2006
  

       If theres nothing you can do about your tiny fractured bone anyway, the machine could just print out a generic healthy insides picture and then you can spend the rest of the day at least not having to worry about the condition onf your insides. No radiation, no X-rays at all! Possibly do-able for false advertising though.
Helixthecat, Nov 28 2006
  

       I imagine an inspiringly creative teacher taking his class to use one of these machines, thereby turning what could have been merely a particularly cruel playground bullying incident into a fun educational opportunity.   

       "Look, children, if you look here you can see where Quilliam's ulna snapped when Rex slammed the door on his arm. Who wants to use their protractor on the x-ray to measure the angle the bone snapped at? Tamsin? ...75 degrees, you say? Judging from the angle the bone's jutting out at from his arm, I'd say you're right - well done! Now, Quilliam, get back in the machine so we can take an x-ray of your ankle... yes, yes, I promise I'll let you go to Matron after we've finished..."
imaginality, Nov 28 2006
  
      
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