Radiology Party Tricks

At a recent folk dance, I was resting on the sidelines, and noticed that a friend had her foot propped up on a chair with an ice pack on it.

SR: "What's wrong?"

Friend: "Someone stepped on me during the last dance."

SR: "Want me to have a look at it?"

I had preloaded a picture of foot X-ray on my iPhone, and when I put it on her foot, the effect on her was all that I have could asked for.

Friend: "OH MY GOD!!"

We tried the same trick on other friends walking by, with pretty much the same results. Now, most of my friends are not radiologists, but are well aware of my geeky nature and love of gadgets.  Therefore, the idea of my carrying around an actual iFluoroscope in my pocket is probably not completely out of the question to them. However, one of my radiology techs at work gave the same universal "OMG" reaction, so I suspect that the illusion relies more on its unexpectedness than on any technical expertise of the audience.

Future plans for this:

Every professional I know gets hit up for free consultations at cocktail parties, and has their own way of dealing with them. One lawyer friend listens politely for a minute, and then says in a loud voice, "Well, if you haven't actually been indicted yet for rape or murder, I can't do much to help you!"

I've decided that my iPhone is going to be my new secret weapon to help repel boarders. I've started loading it up with all sorts of evil things, such as gout, Alzheimer's disease and impalement injuries, like the one above.

Hmmm, maybe also a few STD cases and rectal foreign bodies for good measure...