The advent of WWI created many changes in the field of American radiology. As the USA gradually became aligned with Britain and France, their trade with Germany was stopped, suddenly causing the Allies to manufacture much of the X-Ray equipment that was needed on the frontlines. As "preparedness" swept the country, X-Ray experts joined the Army Medical Corps and training schools were set up across America to improve the portability of the machine itself. Researchers such as William David Coolidge developed a mobile tube for military hospitals that could easily travel to different hospital beds. This new equipment had an important advantage: there were few moving parts and thus the machines would be easy to repair http://www.umw.edu/hisa/resources/S...dents.mwc.edu/_amill4gn/XRAY/PAGES/milit.html
The job of the radiologist in the RAMC in WW1 was one of the most dangerous... Every morning, SOPs demanded that the operative place their hand under the Fluroscope to ensure it was working properly....Hands withered within around x2 months. There was no lead lined rooms available, nor were there any forms of exposure meters...Although diagnostically a major technological leap forward, the poor old operatives were he unsung heroes of medical practice.
