CT Scan: Godfrey Hounsfield and Allan Cormack

Godfrey Hounsfield  and Allan Cormack, both who are well known physicists, are the inventors of the CT scan which is also known as the CAT scan. A CT scan is a computed tomography scan. This is a tool that allows physicians to take cross-sectional images of the bones as well as organs inside the body. This invention was a break from the conventional x-ray scan that only outlines the bones of the human body.

By being able to see the vital organs of the patient, it allows to doctors to see for any wounding of the vital organs, tumors and metastatic conditions. Therefore doctors have a detailed idea of how the patient is injured as well as how to go about to fix the patient. 

Mr. Hounsfield's process for inventing the CT scan was by looking at the x-ray scanning system.  He thought if he took an x-ray scanning of an object inside a box, he could determine what was in the box. He then took this idea and began by creating a computer that would allow him to accomplish x-ray readings from all angles. This idea applied to the field of medicine is what was the start of what is known today as the CAT scan. For this accomplishment, he, as well as Mr. Cormack, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1979. For Mr. Hounsfield, it was solely intrinsic motivation that triggered the start of this invention.

For Mr. Cormack the process was quite different. He was a part of the hospital environment to begin with, working in the radiology department at a local hospital as a part-time replacement. The hospital at which he was working at was concerned with the precision of the x-ray scanning's and presented Mr. Cormack with the assignment of figuring out a way to differentiate x-ray absorption to the various parts of the body. For Mr. Cormack much of the x-ray absorption issue was solved by the man who invented x-ray scans. Therefore from there Mr. Cormack came up with the idea that of triangulation of the x-ray scanning from multiple angles of the body would allow the scan to depict a detailed mapping of the inside of the body. He spent countless hours deriving a mathematical equation that would result in a perfect compilation of the x-ray scanning. Unlike Mr. Hounsfield, Mr. Cormack's start was an extrinsic motivation that was preserved through his intrinsic motivation to go beyond in solving the problem at hand.

https://www.decodedscience.org/ct-scan-computed-axial-tomography-cat-scan/772

http://www.imaginis.com/ct-scan/brief-history-of-ct

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/09/us/allan-cormack-74-nobelist-who-helped-invent-cat-scan.html

http://www.nndb.com/people/498/000131105/allan-m-cormack.jpg

https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1979/hounsfield-bio.html

https://www.providianmedical.com/blog/choose-the-best-ct-scanner-for-your-needs/