Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield (28 August 1919 - 12 August 2004) was an English electrical engineer who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Allan McLeod Cormack for his part in developing the diagnostic technique of computerized axial tomography (CAT). August 28 is the 240th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (241st in leap years), with 125 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search August 12 is the 224th day of the year (225th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physiology or Medicine from 1901 to the present day. ... Allan McLeod Cormack (February 1924 - May 7, 1998) was a South Africa-born American physicist who shared a part of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan. ... CAT apparatus in a hospital Computed axial tomography (CAT), computer-assisted tomography, computed tomography, CT, or body section roentgenography is the process of using digital processing to generate a three-dimensional image of the internals of an object from a large series of two-dimensional X-ray images taken around...

His name is immortalised in the Hounsfield scale, a quantitative measure of radiodensity used in evaluating CAT scans. The scale is defined in Hounsfield units (symbol HF), running from air at -1000 HF, through water at 0 HF, and up to bone at +1000 HF. The Hounsfield scale is a quantitative scale for describing radiodensity. ... Radiodensity is the property of relative transparency to the passage of X-rays through a material. ...

Research

While on an outing in the country, Hounsfield came up with the idea that one could determine what was inside a box by taking X-ray readings at all angles around the object. He then set to work constructing a computer that could take input from X-rays at various angles to create an image of the object in "slices". Applying this possibility to the medical field led him to propose what is now known as computerized axial tomography. At the time, Hounsfield was not aware of the work that Cormack had done on the theoretical mathematics for such a device. Hounsfield built the prototype head scanner and tested it first on a preserved human brain, then on a fresh cow brain from a butcher shop, and later on himself. In 1972, CAT scanning was introduced into medical practice with a successful scan on a cerebral cyst patient at Atkinson Morley's Hospital in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. In 1975, Hounsfield built a whole-body scanner. In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... Jump to: navigation, search The human brain is the center of the central nervous system in humans and the primary control center for the peripheral nervous system. ... Jump to: navigation, search In the anatomy of animals, the brain, or encephalon, is the higher, supervisory center of the nervous system. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... Medicine on the Web NLM (National Library of Medicine, contains resources for patients and healthcare professionals) Virtual Hospital (digital health sciences library by the University of Iowa) Online Medical Dictionary Collection of links to free medical resources Categories: Medicine | Health ... A cyst is a closed sac having a distinct membrane and developing abnormally in a cavity or structure of the body. ... Wimbledon is a suburb of London, part of the London Borough of Merton seven miles (11. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...

Biography

Hounsfield was born on a farm in Nottinghamshire, England. He attended the Magnus Grammar School (now Magnus Church of England School) in Newark-on-Trent. In World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force as a volunteer reservist where he learned the basics of electronics and radar. After the war, he attended Faraday House Electrical Engineering College in London. He never attended any university and was largely self-taught. Nottinghamshire (abbreviated Notts) is an English county in the East Midlands, which borders South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. ... Newark (also Newark-on-Trent) is a town in Nottinghamshire, located on the River Trent. ... Jump to: navigation, search World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that... The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Two digital voltmeters The field of electronics is the study and use of systems that operate by controlling the flow of electrons or other electrically charged particles in devices such as thermionic valves and semiconductors. ... This long range radar antenna (approximately 40m (130ft) in diameter) rotates on a track to observe activities near the horizon. ... Jump to: navigation, search A professor giving a lecture at the Helsinki University of Technology A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ...

In 1951, Hounsfield began work at EMI Ltd. where he researched guided weapon systems and radar. There, he became interested in computers and in 1958, he helped design the first all-transistor computer made in Great Britain, the EMIDEC 1100. Shortly afterwards, he began work on the CAT scanner at EMI. He continued to improve CAT scanning, introducing a whole-body scanner in 1975, and was senior researcher (and after his retirement in 1984, consultant) to the laboratories. Jump to: navigation, search 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search A computer is a device or machine for processing information from data according to a program — a compiled list of instructions. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Hounsfield received numerous awards in addition to the Nobel Prize. He was appointed Commander of the British Empire in 1976 and knighted in 1981. In 1975, he was elected to the Royal Society. Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in decreasing order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand... Jump to: navigation, search 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is claimed to be the oldest learned society still in existence. ...

He was a bachelor his whole life.

External links

Nobel Prize Biography

• This was all at the expense of my schooling at Magnus Grammar School in Newark