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The Development of Technology and Its Influence on Nuclear Medicine

by Tess Hughes


Link to Index Link to Introduction Link to 1940-49 Link to 1950-59 Link to 1960-69 Link to 1970-79 Link to 1980-89 Link to 1990-99 Link to 2000-Beyond Link to References


Evolution of man cartoon

     Introduction



           The development of technology and Nuclear Medicine imaging is a conglomeration of many scientific discoveries. This assignment, written as an exercise to learn 'html', discusses some of those innovations that have made a substantial impact on Nuclear Medicine and its future. The emergence of the basic components of the computer rapidly accelerated the progress of technological advances in medical imaging.
For more information on Nuclear Medicine, please visit NucMed Links.



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     1940-49

           One of the most pivotal inventions of the century,the transistor, was invented by Bill Shockley at Bell Laboratories in 1947. Smaller, faster, cheaper, and more reliable than the vacuum tube, the transistor also generated much less heat.1  They therefore did not attract moths, which had always short-circuit the computers, and were responsible for the term debugging.

Bill Shockley photo - click to enlarge
Figure 12
Bill Shockley
Hofstadter photo - click to enlarge
Figure 23
Hofstadter

          Another critical discovery, the sodium iodide crystal, was developed by Hofstadter in 1948. This enabled gamma ray counting and earned Hofstadter the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1961.

Link to Index Link to Introduction Link to 1940-49 Link to 1950-59 Link to 1960-69 Link to 1970-79 Link to 1980-89 Link to 1990-99 Link to 2000-Beyond Link to References


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This page was last updated on 11th June 2002