We live in an age of unprecedented technological development, seemingly unlimited in its possibilities, especially in the area of medical imaging technology and research. Or so my professional journals would have me believe.
There's no denying that technology is progressing at an astonishing rate. This trend was predicted in 1965 by Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore when he theorized a two-yearly doubling of the amount of transistors that could be inexpensively placed on an integrated circuit and thus increase computer memory. The exponential growth predicted by "Moore's Law" has become a reality and has enabled such high-tech achievements as machines with atomic-diameter resolution and high-throughput drug screening.
We see this progress as consumers every day in our phones, tablets, and personal computers. The increase in power, functionality, and accessibility is undeniable, as is the impact these devices have had on our lives.
With regards to medical imaging technology and research, gene sequencing technologies are vying for success in the laboratory and clinic, barely ten years after the first draft of the human genome was published. In fact, the technology has progressed to the point that one can have his or her genome sequenced for as little as a few thousand dollars.
But are we really living in an age of unprecedented growth in medical imaging and research? I was recently sifting through some boxes that had arrived from London when I came upon two cardboard containers. I immediately recognized them as old x-ray plates I had discovered in a dusty old cupboard in the corner of a room being refurbished at the Royal London Hospital. I held the plates up to the light and recognized the unmistakable outlines of bones, some with breaks some with tumors and others with conditions familiar only to doctors of past generations. The plates were close to a quarter inch thick, heavy and with a distinctly blue hue to them. Each corner was clearly annotated in pencil. The script had recorded the patient name, exam date and pathology.
The dates were easy to read, nineteen hundred and seven, nineteen hundred and ten. The images were of diagnostic quality despite being over a hundred years old. I was intrigued. Wilhelm Roentgen created the first x-ray image in 1895 yet here were high quality images barely ten years after his discovery. Unbelievably the first medical application of x-rays was reported as early as 1896 with scores of hospitals updating their electrotherapeutic centers into the now recognizable x-ray department. The military, as so often the early adapters of medical imaging technology, were using field x-ray units as early as 1897 to help remove embedded shrapnel from servicemen. And by the end of the first decade of the 20th century many medical institutions had staff radiologists with running independent departments.
That pace of development was astonishing. Yes I agree we live in an era of unprecedented growth in medical imaging technology but a few glass plates from a dusty cupboard spoke to equally rapid innovations in the past.