A computed tomography scan, formerly called a CAT scan, is a medical imaging method that produces detailed cross-sectional images of the body by rotating an X-ray tube and a row of detectors around the patient inside a gantry and measuring how different tissues attenuate the X-rays. The electrical engineer Godfrey Hounsfield and the physicist Allan MacLeod Cormack independently developed the mathematics and engineering behind computer-assisted tomographic imaging in the 1970s, and their work was recognized with the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, awarded jointly to the two men for the development of computer-assisted tomography. CT scanning has since become one of the most widely used tools in medical diagnosis, valued for producing detailed internal images far faster than earlier X-ray methods.
Facts
SignificanceGodfrey Hounsfield's EMI scanner, developed from 1967 to 1972, was the first commercially viable computed tomography machine, producing cross-sectional X-ray images that founded modern medical imaging. 1 FAQs
How did Godfrey Hounsfield come up with the idea for computed tomography?
It grew out of his 1967 work on pattern recognition.
Hounsfield said the idea came to him in 1967 while he was exploring pattern recognition and its potential. In his own account he describes that idea as the one that was eventually to become the EMI scanner and the technique of computed tomography.
Connections
Associated With
Source Godfrey Hounsfield (Nobel Prize)
In Field
Source CT Scan (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Invented By
Source Godfrey Hounsfield (Nobel Prize)
Sources
1. CT Scan (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationHistory section, Hounsfield development sentence
The first commercially viable CT scanner was invented by Godfrey Hounsfield in 1967-1972.
History section, EMI funding claim sentence
It is often claimed that revenues from the sales of The Beatles' records in the 1960s helped fund the development of the first CT scanner at EMI.
In Field: Biomedical Engineering, Categories
Diagnostic medical imaging
In Group: Medical Imaging Systems, Lead
A computed tomography scan (CT scan), formerly known in a more rudimentary state as computed axial tomography scan (CAT scan), is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body.
View the Source Godfrey Hounsfield (Nobel Prize)
Associated With: Godfrey Hounsfield, Facts
During the 1960s Godfrey Hounsfield developed an apparatus in which clusters of X-ray beams sent through the body from different angles are registered when the have passed the body.
Invented By: Godfrey Hounsfield, Facts
During the 1960s Godfrey Hounsfield developed an apparatus in which clusters of X-ray beams sent through the body from different angles are registered when the have passed the body.
View the SourceReader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.