Ultrasonic medical imaging: past, current, and future

John M. Reid

doi:10.1117/12.605530

12 April 2005 Ultrasonic medical imaging: past, current, and future (Keynote Presentation)

John M. Reid

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5750, Medical Imaging 2005: Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.605530
Event: Medical Imaging, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Ultrasonic imaging began, like life, in the sea, with the development of sonar for detecting submarines after World-War 1. However, to begin to image soft tissues the ranging time of ocean sonars needed to be reduced, and the electronics speeded up, by a factor of about the ratio between nautical miles and centimeters. This was only possible after the electronic developments made for radar in World-War 2. The rest of our technical history closely follows the developments in semiconductors and fabrication methods that led to modern electronics. This is a largely personal story of a recently graduated engineer with radar experience, who began with fabricating equipment to be used in the hospital to diagnose breast cancer, and continued with involvement the development of echocardiography and Doppler devices. Along the way many others have contributed to the field, including work in other countries that is not covered here. In future, ultrasonic imaging may hold the key to understanding some fundamental questions in human health if adopted for screening studies. It alone offers a relatively inexpensive imaging method that is free of known hazards.

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John M. Reid "Ultrasonic medical imaging: past, current, and future (Keynote Presentation)", Proc. SPIE 5750, Medical Imaging 2005: Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing, (12 April 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.605530

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