Poster showing X-ray equipment

Black and white photographic poster showing X-ray equipment at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, United Kingdom, c.1950s

Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead has a well-established specialism in maxillofacial (jaw and face) injuries. This largely dates back to the Second World War when ground-breaking surgeon Archibald McIndoe worked at the hospital. He performed pioneering plastic surgery for soldiers and airmen with facial injuries and burns. This slide shows some of the x-ray equipment that was used at the hospital in the 1950s. The skull is one of the most difficult areas of the body to image with x-rays because the bone there is particularly dense and hard for x-rays to penetrate. That meant that specialist x-ray equipment was often used to get the clearest and most accurate images.