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The Beatles and the CAT Scanner
I was just responding to a thread about CT’s and thought I’d share my favorite piece of trivia.
Did you know that the Beatles played a role in the development of the CT scanner?
It’s true. The first company to patent and produce CAT scanners was EMI. Sound familiar? The record company the Beatles were with.
EMI had a creative, driven Doctor – Dr. Hounsfield – who had the idea of computed transactional tomography. EMI has loads of cash from the Beatles sales and began funding Dr. Hounsfield’s research also pushing him for results.
Later the British government kicked in several hundreds of millions of Pounds to support the research.
Dr. Hounsfield was successful developing a working head CT unit – body imaging would come later. He shared the Nobel Prize with someone from TUFTs in Boston. But EMI owned the first patent for CAT Scanner and manufactured all scanners for several years.
EMI was self aware enough to realize they lacked the core competency to manage a global medical equipment enterprise and smartly sold the patent to General Electric.
This is why GE was and has been a leading force in CT technology.
But it wouldn’t have been possible but for the deep pockets the Beatles gave EMI. The Beatles were getting screwed but EMI and Northern Songs made out like bandits.
BTW the density measurements on CT scans is called Hounsfield Units.
T1 Grade 3 with CIS3 Replies-
Here’s an article
https://thelongandshort.org/enterprise/how-the-beatles-revolutionised-medical-imaging.html
T1 Grade 3 with CIS
It may be trivia but, I like it!
DX 5/6/2008 TAG3 papillary tumor .5 CM in size. 2 TURBS followed by 6 instillations of BCG weekly with a second round of 6 after a 6 week wait.
I knew there was a reason I liked the Beatles!!
Sara Anne
Diagnosis 2-08 Small papillary TCC; CIS
BCG; BCG maintenance
Vice-President, American Bladder Cancer Society
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