PDF herunterladen
Open Access
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indographics 2026; 05(01): 001-010
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1814151
Review Article

First X-Ray Facility in Asia: 125 Years of Excellence

Autor*innen

  • Kuppusamy Thayalan

    1   Department of Engineering Design, Indian Institute of Technology-M, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

  • Ramamoortrhy Ravicahnadran

    2   Department of Medical Physics, Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Silchar, Assam, India

  • T. S. Swaminathan

    3   Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Dr. Kamakshi Memorial Hospital Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Weitere Informationen
Auch verfügbar auf
  Lizenzen und Reprints

Abstract

Medical radiology has a historical background in the discovery of X-rays (1895), by Wilhelm Conard Roentgen (1845–1923), who was awarded the first Nobel Prize in physics in 1901. Civilian X-ray facility was started in India in 1900 at the General Hospital, Madras (Chennai). Captain Thomas William Barnard was appointed as radiologist to the Government of Madras in 1920 to organize radiological service to the presidency. It was upgraded as Madras Government X-ray Institute (MGXI), in turn Barnard Institute of Radiology (BIR) in 1934. Radiotherapy for cancer treatment was started in 1924 and it was one of the four radium institutes in India (1934). Major V. Arthur Ponnaiah was the radium safety officer/first physicist who regulated radium storage, transport, and safety. The institute started its academic programs in radiology in 1936, first in Asia, and conducted research on age determination and forensic applications, first in the world. This X-ray facility has completed 125 years of public service and this article gives an overview of its origin and history at Madras (Chennai). Published literature, hospital records, souvenir articles, media information, and personal experiences are used to compile the present article.

Keywords

history of X-rays - Madras General Hospital - Captain Barnard - pioneer X-ray department in India - first X-ray image - Barnard Institute of Radiology


Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
20. Januar 2026

© 2026. Indographics. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India