The CAT-Scan Invention
July 28, 2011
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts
Image source: kantrowitz.com
In November 1975 South African physicist and inventor Robert Ledley was granted patent #3,922,552 for a Diagnostic X-ray System also known as a CAT-Scan.
Robert Ledley invented a mathematical technique in which the X-ray source and electronic detectors are rotated around the body. The resulting data is then analyzed by a computer to produce a 3D map of the tissues.
This secured them the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
The Computed Axial Tomography Scan (CAT-scan) uses X-rays to create 3D images of the body. A normal x-ray is only a 2D picture.
By using a CAT-scan a doctor could not only tell if a tumor is present, but also how deep it is in the tissue.
South Africa is backed up by a number of organizations that provide support for inventors and innovators.
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2 Responses to “The CAT-Scan Invention”
You have managed to get some of the facts around the invention of the CAT-scanner conflated. While Robert S Ledley was indeed granted US Patent Number 3,922,552, and published his work on the ACTA scanner in Science [186(4160): 207–212] in 1974, he was not a South African and he did not win the Nobel Prize. You can find out more about Ledley here:
http://www.madehow.com/inventorbios/24/Robert-S-Ledley.html
The South African who did win the Nobel Prize for his contribution to the development of the CAT-scanner was Allan Cormack. You can find out more about him here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_McLeod_Cormack
By Kit Vaughan on Aug 2, 2011
Dear Kit Vaughan, thanks for your input, it’s greatly appreciated. Please keep on reading the blog. We would appreciate future comments, criticism and contributions.
By Wessel van Wyk on Aug 3, 2011