The History of Radiology This page intentionally left blank The History of Radiology Adrian M.K. Thomas Arpan K. Banerjee Series Advisor Christopher Gardner-Thorpe 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries © Oxford University Press 2013 The moral rights of the authors have been asserted First Edition published 2013 Impression: 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available ISBN 978–0–19–963997–7 Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up-to-date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations. The authors and the publishers do not accept responsibility or legal liability for any errors in the text or for the misuse or misapplication of material in this work. Except where otherwise stated, drug dosages and recommendations are for the non-pregnant adult who is not breast-feeding Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials contained in any third party website referenced in this work. To my mother Mary. I still miss you. To my children, Gareth, Charlotte, and Owen. I have learnt so much from each of you. Adrian M.K. Thomas To my late mother for her selfl ess devotion to her children. To my father for his wisdom and continued encouragement. To my wife, Tina, for her patience and support. To my daughters, Shonali and Shiuli, for providing inspiration for the future. Arpan K. Banerjee This page intentionally left blank Foreword This series of Oxford Medical Histories is designed to bring to a wide readership of clinical doctors and others from many backgrounds a short but comprehensive text setting out the essentials of medicine. History describes the knowledge acquired over time by human beings. It is a form of storytelling, of organizing knowledge, of sorting and giving impetus to information. The study of medical history, just like the history of other human endeavours, enables us to analyse our knowledge of the past in order to plan our journey forward and hence try to limit repetition of our mistakes—a sort of planned process of Natural Selection. Medical history also encourages and trains us to use an academic approach to our studies which thereby should be more pre- cise, more meaningful, and more productive. Medical history should be enjoyable too, since that is a powerful stimulus to move forward, a fun thing to do. The inspiring book that led to this series introduced us to clinical neurology, genetics, and the history of those with muscular dystrophy. Alan and Marcia Emery explored T he History of a Genetic Disease , now often styled Meryon’s disease rather than Duchenne muscular dystro- phy. The fi rst to describe a disease process is not necessarily the owner of the eponym but the Emerys are helping put that right for their sub- ject, Edward Meryon. This book on radiology takes us on a journey round the specialty. The volume could equally well have been described as a History of Medical Imaging since so much has happened here, as in almost every speci- ality in medicine, to improve our diagnosis and treatment of the ail- ments that can affl ict us all. More always needs to be done, of course. Radiology has its own special place since at fi rst it was concerned with producing pictures of broken bones and dislocated joints and then through various technical advances it has metamorphosed to a vast array of methods by which not only the anatomy but also the physiology viii FOREWORD of the body may be examined. Thus the authors describe the use of tom- ography, ultrasound, isotope studies, computed tomography, positron emission tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and much else. These techniques enable doctors to see into the structure and workings of the body and, of course, have also been used in animal health, in the palaeoimaging of Egyptian mummies, in investigating the remains of sailors who died during the ill-fated Franklin Expedition of 1845–1848, and in many other circumstances. Future volumes in this series of Oxford Medical Histories should take us to other aspects of our humanity, always leaving us with more questions than have been answered since each new discovery leads to more questions, exponential sets of issue for study, further thought, and an attempt to solve the big questions that surround our existence. Medicine is about people and so is history; the study of the combination of the duo can be very powerful. What do you think? Christopher Gardner-Thorpe, MD, FRCP, FACP Series Advisor, Oxford Medical Histories Preface The history of medicine from antiquity to the present day has been well chronicled in many notable scholarly texts. Radiology, which was founded in 1895 following R ö ntgen’s discovery of X-rays, is a relatively new subspecialty of medicine and as such has often been neglected in medical historical books. The history of the development of radiology, although a relatively new specialty, is an interesting story. Rapid advances in the 20th cen- tury in physics, chemistry, engineering, and computing enabled engi- neers, scientists, and doctors to collaborate and produce remarkable new machines, equipment, and techniques for investigating the human body, thus revolutionizing the science of medical imaging. In this book the authors have tried to review the remarkable develop- ments that occurred in the fi eld of medical imaging since the discovery of X-rays and have tried to place the advances in not only a historical but also a cultural and social context. A work such as this is perhaps more notable for its omissions and it does not profess to be encyclopaedic. Great discoveries and inventions in medicine and science often result in accolades going to a few and these people are often said to have been privileged to stand on the shoulder of giants who have preceded them. A book like this would not have been possible without the help of previous scholars, libraries, and many learned institutions and their archives, journals, and collections which are acknowledged in the text and the references. We have attempted to tell the story of the last hundred years of radiology and hope the book will be of interest to a wide range of readers including doctors, scientists, medical physicists, radiographers, historians of medicine and science, as well as any interested lay person. Most of the population will undergo some form of medical imaging during their lives. This book hopefully will serve to explain how cur- rent radiology developed from fairly humble beginnings to the modern, sophisticated, high-technology specialty of the 21st century.