The History of Computerized Tomography (CT)

It all started in...

1917 – Johann Radon, an Austrian mathematician, invented the Radon Transform, which showed the mathematical theory behind computed tomographic.

1930s – Tomography was being developed.

1960s – Several researchers had worked independently on cross-sectional imaging.

1967 – Sir Godfrey Hounsfield invented the first commercially viable CT scanner.

1971 – The first patient brain scan was done at Atkinson Morley Hospital in England, where the first EMI scanner was installed.

1972 – The first scanner installation and patient brain scan was publically announced.

1973 – The first clinical scan in the USA was performed at the Mayo Clinic.

1975 – EMI was marketing a body scanner, the first of which was installed at Northwick Park Hospital in London. The first body scanner in the USA was installed at the Mallinkrodt Institute.

1976 – At this time, 17 different companies were offering scanners.

1978 – At this time, around 200 scanners had been installed in the USA. 

1979 – Godfrey Hounsfield and Allan McLeod Cormack, who invented a similar process, were both awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

1980s – Notable improvements occurred throughout the 80s including shorter scan time and increased matrix size. Towards the end of the 80s, scan times were down to only 3 seconds.

1990s – CT scanners were divided into two main divisions, “Fixed CT” and “Portable CT”. A fixed CT scanner is large, requiring a complex power supply, and is not easily transferable. A portable CT scanner or transportable scanner is small, lightweight, and easily transferable.

2008 – Siemens introduced a new generation of scanner. This scanner was able to take an image in less than one second.