Darkroom Equipment And Requirements

Darkroom Equipment And Requirements

Write short note on darkroom.
Answer. Primary function of a darkroom is to provide a completely darkened environment where X-ray film can be handled and processed to produce diagnostic image in an efficient, precise, and standardized procedure.

Equipment of darkroom

Darkroom consists of the following infrastructure:

• Safelights
• Visible light source (tubelights)
• Working area to load extraoral cassettes
• Processing tanks
• Thermometer and stop clock
• Dryer
• Storage facility for unexposed films
• Exhaust and appropriate ventilation.

Requirements of a darkroom

A well-planned darkroom is necessary for the easy processing.

An ideal darkroom should have:

• Convenient location
• Adequate size with ample working space
• Correct lighting equipment
• Adequate storage
• Temperature and humidity is controlled.

Other miscellaneous requirements of darkroom consist of waste basket for disposal of all film wrappings and there should be a X-ray view box.

Convenient Location

Location of the darkroom should be convenient.

Ideally the darkroom should be located near to the area where X-ray units are installed.

Adequate size with ample Working space

• Darkroom should be wide enough to accommodate film processing equipment and also have ample working space.
• As smaller developer and fixer tanks can be utilized, may be of small sizes. The average size required is 6 ft × 8 ft.
• Ceiling of the darkroom should not be less than 2.7 m high.
• Floor of darkroom should be non-slippery and is resistant to staining.
• Ceiling and walls should be very well painted. For protection from the ionizing radiations, walls should have 2.0 mm equivalency of lead.A25-mm thick barium plaster can also be used. The area where films are stored should be covered well.

Correct Lighting Equipment

• Darkroom should be strictly light tight, i.e. light proof.
• Door of the darkroom should be light tight along with proper lock to avoid accidental opening.
• There are two types of lighting essential in a darkroom, i.e. room lighting and safe lighting.

Room lighting

• In can descent room lighting is strictly needed for procedures which are not associated with the processing of films.
• An overhead white light is needed which provides adequate illumination for the size of the room. It is very necessary to perform tasks such as cleaning, stocking materials, and mixing chemicals in this light.

Safe lighting

• Safe lighting is a special type of lighting used to provide illumination in the darkroom.
• Safelight typically consists of a lamp which is equipped with a low wattage, i.e. 15 watt bulb and a safelight filter. This filter removes the short wavelengths in the blue-green portion of the visible light spectrum which are responsible for exposing and damaging X-ray film.
• A universal safelight filter should be recommended for use in a darkroom in which both extraoral screen films and intraoral films are processed. GBX-2 safelight filter by Kodak is the most recommended one.

Adequate storage

• Storage space in the darkroom must include ample space for the chemical processing of solutions, film cassette and other various miscellaneous radiographic supplies.
• It is recommended that storage of unopened boxes of film should be in the darkroom.
• Boxes of opened extraoral film should be stored in the darkroom.Alight tight storage drawer is very necessary to protect the opened boxes of an unexposed extraoral film.

Temperature and humidity control

• Temperature as well as humidity level of the darkroom should be strictly controlled to prevent film damage. Room temperature of 70°F should be recommended; if the room temperature exceeds 90°F the film fog results.
• Relative humidity level between 50% and 70% should be maintained.Ifhumiditylevelsaretoohigh,thefilmemulsion does not dry. When humidity levels are very low, static electricity becomes aproblem andthis leads tofilm artifacts.
• Darkroom plumbing consists of both hot and cold running water with their mixing valves to adjust the temperature of water in the processing tanks. A utility sink along with the running water is useful in the darkroom.