Date |
Development
or Discovery |
c. 400 BC |
Disease
concept introduced by Greek physician Hippocrates. |
1612 |
Medical
Thermometer devised by Italian physician Sanctorius |
c. 1660 |
Light
microscope developed by Dutch naturalist Antohj van Leeuwenhoek |
1810 |
Stethoscope
invented by French physician Rene' Laennec. |
1850 - 1900 |
Germ
theory of disease proposed by French scientist Louis Pasteur and developed by
German bacteriologist Robert Koch. |
1895 |
X-rays
discovered by German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen. He also produced the first x-ray
picture of the body (his wife's hand) in 1895. |
1900 |
Chest
x-ray, widespread use of the chest x-ray made early detection of tuberculosis (which
was the most common cause of death) a reality. |
1906 |
X-ray
contrast medium. First contrast filled image of the renal system (kidneys). |
1910 |
Barium
sulfate introduction of as contrast agent for gastro-intestinal diagnosis. |
1910-1912 |
Theory
of Radioactivity published by Marie Curie and investigation of x-ray radiation for patient therapy (e.g. treatment of
cancer). |
1906 |
Electrocardiograph
(ECG) invented by Dutch physiologist Willem Einthoven to monitor and record the
electric signature of the heart. |
1924 |
Radiographic
imaging of the gallbladder, bile duct and blood vessels for the first time. |
1929 |
Cardiac catheterization first performed by
Forssmann on himself. |
c. 1932 |
Transmission
electron microscope (TEM) constructed by German scientists Max Knoll and Ernst
Ruska. |
1945 |
Coronary artery imaging. Visualization of (blood vessels that
feed the heart). |
1950 |
Nuclear Medicine applied imaging the kidneys, heart, and
skeletal system. |
1955 |
X-ray
Image Intensifier-Television units to allow dynamic x-ray imaging of moving
scenes. These fluoroscopic movies provided new information of the beating heart and its
blood vessels. |
c. 1955 |
Panoramic
x-ray images of the entire jaw and teeth. |
1957 |
Fiber
endoscopy pioneered by South African-born physician Basil Hirschowitz at the
University of Michigan. |
1960 |
Ultrasound
imaging is developed to look at the abdomen and kidneys, fetal baby, carotid blood
vessels and heart. |
1970 |
X-ray mammography finds widespread application in imaging the
breasts. |
1972 |
Computed
Tomography (CT) scanning invented by British engineer Godfrey Hounsfield of EMI
Laboratories, England, and South African born physicist Allan Cormack of Tufts University,
Massachusetts. |
1975 |
Chronic
villus sampling developed by Chinese gynecologists as an aid to the early
diagnosis of genetic disorders. |
1976 |
Coronary Angioplasty was introduced by surgeon Andreas
Gruentzig at the University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland. This technique uses x-ray
fluoroscopy to guide the compression of plaques and minimize the dangerous constriction of
the heart vessels. |
1978 |
Digital radiography: the TV signal from the x-ray system is
converted to a digital picture which can then be enhanced for clearer diagnosis and stored
digitally for future review. |
1980 |
Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the brain was first done on a clinical patient. MRI was
developed by Paul Lauterbur and scientists at Thorn-EMI Laboratories, England, and
Nottingham University, England. |
1984 |
3-Dimensional
image processing using digital computers and CT or MR data, three dimensional
images of bones and organs were first made. |
1985 |
ClinicalPositron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning
developed by scientists at the University of California. |
c. 1985 |
Clinical
Networks were first implemented to allow digital diagnostic images to be shared
between physicians via computer network, allowing a doctor in Boston to review a CT
examination from a patient in Beijing, China. |
1989 |
Spiral
CT allows fast volume scanning of an entire organ during a single, short patient
breath hold of 20 to 30 seconds. Spiral CT had caused a renaissance in CT and lead the way
tosignificant developments like CT Angiography. |
1989 |
MR
Angiography developed and clinically available to allow non-invasive imaging of the
blood vessels without radiation or contrast injection. |
1993 |
Echo
Planar MR Imaging (EPI) developed and clinically available to allow MR systems to
provide early detection of acute stroke. EPI also makes possible functional imaging, for
instance of brain activity allowing doctors to investigate the function of different
centers of the mind. |
1993 |
Open
MRI Systems developed to allow MR scanning of severely claustrophobic or obese
patients who could not tolerate convention MR imaging in a close bore system. |