02/10/2025
On this day in 1971, the first clinical CT scan was done on a prototype scanner at Atkinson Morley Hospital in London. Sir Godfrey Hounsfield and Dr. Allan M. Cormack co-invented the scanner to collect cross-sectional images of a patient, though the work was a culmination of many peoples' genius and dedication to radiology. Hounsfield and Cormack would both later win the Nobel Prize for their work.
Happy 54th birthday to CT 🎉
And a big thank-you to everyone who makes computed tomography as great as it is.
Photo 1: the first CT scanner, circa 1971 (image credit Science Museum Group)
Photos 2-3: the same scanner on display at London's Science Museum.
