Magnetic resonance imaging-the Aberdeen perspective on developments in the early years.

From the beginnings of medical imaging with radioactivity, an account is given of the development in Aberdeen of CT scanners in nuclear medicine, and their clinical value, leading to the present-day gamma-cameras. Early animal work with electron magnetic resonance is described, which developed into a programme towards nuclear magnetic resonance of water in body tissues. The 1974 NMR image of a mouse, using the nuclear medicine experience, led to a quest to build the first clinically useful whole-body MRI. The work of other teams is outlined, and the steps which led to successful diagnostic images being made with the Aberdeen machine in 1980. The welcome from the medical fraternity, and the output of the multinational medical imaging companies, has led to the present-day, worldwide use of the MRI technique.

The contribution of medical physicists and doctors in Aberdeen to the evolution of modern medical imaging--SPECT, PET and MRI, 1965-1992.

From the beginnings of medical imaging with radioactivity, an account is given of the development in Aberdeen of Computed Tomography (CT) scanners in Nuclear Medicine, and their clinical value, leading to present-day gamma-cameras. The introduction and clinical use of the cyclotron and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imager in Aberdeen, has led to a national programme for the cancer patients in Scotland. Early animal work with electron magnetic resonance, which developed into a programme towards nuclear magnetic resonance of water, and then to a quest to build the first clinically-useful whole-body MRI, is described. Successful diagnostic images obtained with it have led to the present-day worldwide use of the MRI technique.

The evolution of medical imaging: from Geiger counters to MRI--a personal saga.

This article traces the evolution of medical imaging, from the crude images of the thyroid gland obtained using Geiger and scintillation counters, to the automatic scanners built to image brain tumors and organs, to gamma cameras, to digital imaging. A computed tomography scanner built in Aberdeen in the late 1960s led to the present-day gamma-camera tomographs, the main workhorse of nuclear medicine. The gradual evolution of the steps needed for clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are described, along with the rapid development of this novel form of body imaging. A brief account is also given of the present-day use of MRI in clinical medicine worldwide, with some modern cutting-edge applications, and its possible future.