A Gentleman´s Crazy Idea
The history of computed tomography
In London, in fall 1971, a radiologist and an engineer found themselves jumping up and down for joy – as one of them later recalled – “like football players who had just scored a winning goal.” In their hands, the two researchers were holding a completely new type of X-ray image – known as a tomogram – that depicted a human brain in unprecedented quality. Indeed, looking at the image, the radiologist, James Ambrose, could see his 41-year-old patient’s brain “in a great deal more detail than we’d expected” and could clearly make out the cortex, the spaces filled with cerebrospinal fluid, and even the white matter.
![Godfrey Hounsfield](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/ec09d2e03817e24c/639eab0f8b65/v/8d69bf058f65/Godfrey-Hounsfield.jpg)
The engineer, Godfrey Hounsfield, had developed the new X-ray technology almost single-handedly.
![Prototyp des ersten Computertomographen](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/d0135562256e7bb3/d136315517ef/v/e60a5c133dc5/Science-Museum_Prototyp-erster-CT-Scanner.jpg)
The prototype of the first CT scanner set a new course for the development of X-ray technology
Source: Science Museum/Science and Society Picture Library
Tremendous enthusiasm at Siemens
![Siemens Siretom Schädelscanner](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/2d53ddbd27532420/5fb5dd2abdbb/v/394d0c1570bb/SiemensHealthineers_Siretom_1975.jpg)
The preproduction model of SIRETOM in 1975
![Links: Eine der ersten Aufnahmen des Gehirns mit dem Prototyp des Siemens SIRETOM. Rechts: Ein mit Cinematic Rendering berechnetes klinisches Bild aus CT Daten](https://medmuseum-corp.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/02e892aa55e2a3ad/fea30c2fe5ed/v/e813740efa3d/SiemensHealthineers_CT-Aufnahme-mit-Siretom-1974-vs.-aktuelle-CR-Darstellung.jpg)
Left side: One of the first images of the brain taken with the prototype of the SIRETOM CT scanner from Siemens. Right side: A clinical image generated from CT data using Cinematic Rendering