Paul Christian Lauterbur, (born May 6, 1929) is an American chemist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2003 with Peter Mansfield for his work which made the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) possible. Born and raised in Sidney, Ohio, Lauterbur graduated from Sidney High School. He did his undergraduate work at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Lauterbur is a 1962 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and credits the idea of the MRI to a brainstorm one day at a suburban Pittsburgh diner, the MRI's first model being scribbled on a table napkin. [1]. The further research that led to the Nobel Prize was performed at the State University of New York at Stony Brook^[2] in the 1970s. Dr. Lauterbur is currently a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A chemist pours from a Florence flask. ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physiology or Medicine from 1901 to the present day. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Prof Sir Peter Mansfield, FRS, (born October 9, 1933), is a British physicist who was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries concerning magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Sidney is a city located in Shelby County, Ohio. ... Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, with some dormitories on the south end of campus located in Cleveland Heights. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... The University of Pittsburgh is a state-related, doctoral/research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... Nickname: Steel City, Iron City, City of Champions, City of Bridges, City of Colleges Location in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Allegheny County Founded 1758 Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (D) Area    - City 151. ... Stony Brook University, (SB), otherwise known as the State University of New York at Stony Brook, (SUNYSB), is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York (on the north side of Long Island, about 65 miles east of Manhattan, New York). ... The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, also known as UIUC and the U of I (the officially preferred abbreviation), is the flagship campus in the University of Illinois system. ...

Ironically, another Ohio-born inventor, Charles Kettering, was a proponent of the use of magnetism in medical diagnostics decades earlier. Charles Kettering, on a Time cover, 1933 Charles Franklin Kettering (August 29, 1876 – November 24 or November 25, 1958), also known as Boss Kettering, was born in northern Ohio, USA. He was a farmer, school teacher, mechanic, engineer, scientist, inventor and social philosopher. ...

The Nobel Prize in Physics in 1952, which went to Felix Bloch and Edward Purcell, was for the development of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), the scientific principle behind MRI. However, for decades magnetic resonance was used mainly for studying the chemical structure of substances. It wasn't until the 1970s with Lauterbur's and Mansfield's developments that NMR could be used to produce images of the body. Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) accepting the Nobel Prize for his work on magnetohydrodynamics [1]. List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Felix Bloch. ... Edward Mills Purcell (August 30, 1912 - March 7, 1997) was an American physicist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize for Physics for his independent discovery (1946) of nuclear magnetic resonance in liquids and in solids. ... Pacific Northwest National Laboratorys high magnetic field (800 MHz, 18. ... Chemical structure refers to the spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule and the chemical bonds that hold the atoms together. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ...

Lauterbur is credited for the idea of introducing gradients in the magnetic field which allows for determining the origin of the radio waves emitted from the nuclei of the object of study. This spatial information allows two-dimensional pictures to be produced. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Radio frequency, or RF, refers to that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in which electromagnetic waves can be generated by alternating current fed to an antenna. ... A semi-accurate depiction of the helium atom. ...

His original MRI machine is located at the Chemistry building on the campus of the State University of New York at Stony Brook in Stony Brook, New York. Stony Brook University, (SB), otherwise known as the State University of New York at Stony Brook, (SUNYSB), is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York (on the north side of Long Island, about 65 miles east of Manhattan, New York). ... Stony Brook is a hamlet (unincorporated community) (and census-designated place) located in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York. ...

See also

• Nobel Prize controversies

Since the first award of the Nobel Prizes in 1901, they have generated criticism and much controversy. ...

References

↑  Nobel Prize Awardee Paul Lauterbur Returns To SBU Where His Winning Research Was Conducted In The '70s

External links

• Nobel Prize 2003 Press Release
• University of Pittsburgh Medical School article on alumnus Lauterbur