Blog Post 1: Medical Imaging Development
While the history of medical imaging can be traced back to as early as 290 B.C.E. with the royal treasury of Egypt funding libraries and scholarly study of the human anatomy, medical imaging in its current form techniques began around the turn of the 19th century with the identification of the X-ray. Since then, imaging has been primarily a diagnostic tool, generally believed to improve patient care and reduce health care costs due to early detection of diseases through less-invasive and non-surgical techniques.
Radiology
Medical imaging consisted of autopsies and drawings until 1895 when Wilhelm Roentgen was working with cathode ray tubes replicating experiments conducted by Heinrich Hertz. With the cathode emitting rays Roentgen found photographic plates became fogged, which turned out to be from rays being emitted by the cathode interacting with a barium platinum cyanide screen. After investigation he found that the rays from the cathode tube could penetrate objects and illuminate the screen to different degrees dependent upon the presence of bone and skin between the cathode tube and screen. .The effects of X-rays had been seen years earlier through their effect on photographic plates but the phenomenon was disregarded until Roentgen witnessed the same phenomenon and became fascinated1 If not for Roentgens interest the development of medical imaging may have been delayed indefinitely. The dissemination of this finding was remarkable as was the refinement of the quality of X-ray images and reduction of required exposure time. Because X-rays only revealed limited soft tissue methods for imaging arteries and organs were developed which led to advances in imaging contrasts and catheters.2 The use of glass in fiber optics also owes part of its advancement to medical imaging as it was developed to view complex internal organs.3 Medical imaging was not without benefit from other technologies. The development of induction coils, television image amplifying vacuum tubes, transistors and many other innovations added to the strength and precision of X-ray images.
A giant leap forward in medical imaging came from integrating computers. Cross-sectional images could be created by measuring absorption rates of x-rays from different angles. To generate an image from the large amounts of data and even to measure the data required the processing power of a computer. This cross-sectional image came to be known as computed tomography or CT.4 The first CT scan was taken on October 1, 1971 and was financed by Electric and Musical Industries which was at the time reaping the rewards of its recently produced album Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band.5
Ultrasound
Ultrasound was first widely used during World War II to detect enemy submarines. After WWI, ultrasound was applied to produce low-quality 2D images of human organs. As the quality improved in the 1970s and 80s, ultrasound not only allowed babies to be viewed in utero, but its images also enabled the effectiveness of cancer treatments on tumors to be assessed.6
Nuclear medicine
Nuclear imaging (such as Positron Emission Tomography [PET]) is the culmination of many important discoveries beginning with that of natural radioactivity. The development of ultrasound was helped by the government but nuclear medicine was hindered when publications were suppressed during World War II to keep new development from reaching the Axis.7 The application of radiation to medicine is attributed to Jean Joliot-Curie, the first high commissioner for the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission in 1946. Although its first success was in diagnosis abnormal thyroid conditions and results of a PET scan were used in court to confirm a defendant suffered from schizophrenia5, PET scans are now commonly used to discover cancerous tumors.8
Present and Future
Interestingly, all of the technologies discussed above are still in use for different applications; none have yet been rendered completely obsolete by newer devices. Of course, new techniques and applications are constantly being developed and they will undoubtedly have an ever increasing impact on not only the healthcare system, but also human culture.
Other technologies are giving researchers clues to human behavior by allowing them to watch the brain function in real time. This functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technique even has the potential to move beyond the laboratory and may impact individuals’ expectations of privacy and other social norms. Although the claim is controversial, some believe that fMRI techniques can detect lying with about 90% accuracy.
Reference
1 Doby, T., & Alker, G. J. (1997). Origins and development of medical imaging. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. p. 58
Films Media Group. (2006). The History of Medical Imaging. Films on Demand. Retrieved from http://digital.films.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/PortalViewVideo.aspx?xtid=37556
2 Doby, T., & Alker, G. J. (1997). Origins and development of medical imaging. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. Chapter 7
3 Doby, T., & Alker, G. J. (1997). Origins and development of medical imaging. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. p. 95-96
4 Doby, T., & Alker, G. J. (1997). Origins and development of medical imaging. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. p. 108-111
5 Pietzsch, J. (2011). With a Little Help from My Friends. NobelPrize.org. Retrieved from http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1979/perspectives.html
6 Films Media Group. (2006). The History of Medical Imaging. Films on Demand. Retrieved from http://digital.films.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/PortalViewVideo.aspx?xtid=37556
7 Doby, T., & Alker, G. J. (1997). Origins and development of medical imaging. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. p. 116-117
8 Films Media Group. (2006). The History of Medical Imaging. Films on Demand. Retrieved from http://digital.films.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/PortalViewVideo.aspx?xtid=37556
9 Films Media Group. (2006). The History of Medical Imaging. Films on Demand. Retrieved from http://digital.films.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/PortalViewVideo.aspx?xtid=37556