Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Drug Treatment and In Vivo Imaging of Osteoblast-Osteoclast Interactions in a Medaka Fish Osteoporosis Model
Published on: January 1, 2017
The radio-opacity of fishbones
1ENT Department, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK.
Abstract:
Plain radiographs are often taken to localize fishbones which lodge in the pharynx. In this study a pig's neck was used to determine the radio-opacity of 14 different species of fishbones. Radiographs were taken with bones placed in up to four of the common sites of impaction and assessed on two occasions independently by two previously uninvolved ENT consultants. The visibility of the fishbones was scored. Inter and intra-observer agreement for species and site was determined. There was excellent interobserver agreement at both sessions for species (rs1 = 0.96, P < 0.0001, rs2 = 0.95, P < 0.0001) and site (rs1 = 0.98, P < 0.05, rs2 = 0.95, P congruent to 0.05). Intraobserver agreement for species of fish were similarly significant but not for site. The most opaque bones were cod, haddock, grey mullet and lemon sole. The site most often detected was the laryngopharynx and that most often missed was the tonsil. This study is clinically relevant because it is useful to know which species of fishbone are radio-opaque when clinical examination fails to reveal a foreign body and may clarify the decision to proceed to endoscopy.
Related Concept Videos
Osmoregulation in Fishes
Types of Radioactivity
Alpha (α) decay is the emission of an α particle from the nucleus. For example, polonium-210 undergoes α decay:
Radioactive Decay and Radiometric Dating
FISH - Fluorescent In-situ Hybridization
X-ray Imaging
Diversity of Protists III

