History

The Technique

In my research, I have found that the techique of lenticular panels for X-rays is known already from the 40's: "Moving in an arc, the X-ray tube scans the subject, which is placed above a fluorescent screen. Below the screen, the camera moves, recording the panoramic series of views on special film embossed with microscopic ridges." [Tridimensional X-Ray on One Film, Popular Science, Vol. 141, No. 3, September 1942]. Several patents have been made, for example in the patent US3783282 (1974) we read "a plurality of lineated images are obtained on the underlying X-ray film, which images can be viewed to present an illusion of depth or a three-dimensional effect through the use of a conventional lenticular optical screen" and the patent US3962579 (1975) concerns an "Apparatus and a method for making an X-ray photograph of an object wherein the photograph, when viewed through a lenticular screen or other similar device, will provide a three-dimensional picture of the object and the interior parts thereof".

The lenticular panel is a multi-lens. It looks like a sheet of transparent plastic, one side smooth and in contact with an image properly prepared, and on the other thumb, with lots of hills thickly riding parallel, creating the multi-lens. They are often used for the covers of notebooks and diaries, for various figures, and advertising images. The hills, deforming the optical path by refraction, make the right eye and left eye of an observer see different portions of the image behind it, namely, that the two eyes see two different images, which were prepared to create in the observer's brain the stereoscopic effect, which is based precisely on the fact that the two eyes see the reality differently, because from slightly different angles. Accepting a pair of photographs of a scene from taken from physical reality, photographed from points that are distantd more or less as two pupils, the company Start 3D produces a lenticular panel that allows three-dimensional visualization of the original scene. I applied this technique to X-rays. I sent two radiographic images of an object x-rayed from various angles, and I bought the lenticular panels which actually exhibit some tridimensionality.
Most likely this technique does not produce fictitious information but I cannot grant that absolutely.
It could be useful, especially to understand the relative positions of different elements.

The lenticular technique could allow to understand at a glance the relative positions of different elements, for example if a bullet (or other) is before or behind or inside an organ, without making dozens or hundreds of X-rays, with the well estabilished technologies; and, if necessary, even without specific X-ray hardware, simply slightly rotating the subject. Surely, one may object that lenticulars panels cost quite a lot, but take in account that there exist lenticular screens (and also three-dimensional screens with other technologies) which reproduce the same effect just using the couple of image files, without printing them on lenticular panels.

Click to see a videoclip (20 seconds) showing a lenticular panel of a bone of cow with screws.

Public domain image (2011) by Alexor - For the X-rays included in the image we thank SGP of Trieste - Italy.

In this example of a polystyrene parallelepiped (covered with aluminium foil) with glass pellets, the lentixular allows to understand the arrangement of the pellets, which is not so easy to understand by some conventional X-rays.
(X-rays: courtesy of SGP - Trieste).

Lenticular screens (or other tridimensional screens) could help in recognizing in real time weapons in X-raying bags in airport controls and similar situations.