History of medical imaging | Medical Physics

The History of Medical Imaging

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Timeline of leading medical scanning developments: hover over boxes to find out more.

The colour of the box corresponds to the type of scan it is discussing: X-ray, MRI, CT, PET or ultrasound.

1875

Discovery of the X-ray

Wilhem Roentgen noticed that some invisible rays of energy could penetrate some materials more than others

1932

Discovery of the positron

Carl Anderson discovered the positron on 2nd August 1932

1937

NMR invented

NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), a method of determining chemical structures, was developed by Isidor Rabi. This process is the basis of MRI.

1941

Human body ultrasonically imaged

Brothers Friedreich and Karl Dussik, an engineer and a physicist, were the first to ultrasonically echo image the human body

1920s

Fluoroscopy invented

Patients were given radioactive tracers to swallow or as an enema, allowing doctors to make scans of the gut. This meant cancers and other diseases could be diagnosed by radiologists.

1932

First cyclotron developed

The greatest particle accelerator for its time, the cyclotron was developed and patented by Ernest Lawrence

1940s

First ultrasonic imaging device invented

Floyd Firestone devised the Supersonic Reflectoscope to detect internal flaws in meal castings using ultrasound.

1956

Clinical ultrasound pioneered

Obstetrician Ian Donald and engineer Tom Brown developed the first diagnostic prototype

1950s

Nuclear medicine

Taking over from X-ray tubes, radioactive materials that emit X-rays and gamma rays upon decay were introduced.

1960s

First steps made towards MRI

Raymond Damadian determined that cancerous tissue could be identified by scanning since it retains more water than healthy tissue. He later claimed to have invented MRI.

1959

CT scanner theorised

William Oldendorf conceived the idea of a CT scan in 1959, and published a paper describing the concept in 1961

1972

First commercially viable CT scanner developed

This was done by Godfrey Hounsfield and Allan Cormack

1970s

First CT scanners installed

These scanners were installed between 1974 and 1976, and were used for head imaging

1971

Creating 3D images

Paul Lauterbur devised a way to record and stack 2D images to create a 3D scan, using a magnetic field gradient

1972

First PET camera built

Michael Phelps, the scientist who developed this camera alongside others, if often credited with inventing PET scanning.

1977

First full-body PET scanner developed

Today, there are over 400 PET scanners in use worldwide

1976

Development of radiopharamaceuticals

This was largely responsible for the acceptance of PET. In particular, the development of labeled 2-fluorodeoxy-D-glucose (2FDG) was a major factor in expanding the scope of PET imaging.

1980

First clinical MRI scan

A team led by John Mallard at the University of Aberdeen successfully built and used the first full-body MRI scanner

References:

Bradley, W. G. 'The History of Medical Imaging', Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 152, No. 3 (Sep., 2008), pp. 349-361

Dayton, R. A. 'A Brief History of Positron Emission Tomography', Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology, 1997;25:4-11

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_magnetic_resonance_imaging [Accessed: 14/02/19]

http://www.imaginis.com/ct-scan/brief-history-of-ct [Accessed: 14/02/19]