Beyond sight: milestones in medical imaging from microscopes to microbubbles

1660 - the microscope

Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek made his first observations through a simple microscope with just a little magnification.

He eventually made lenses with up to 250x magnification, letting him observe and describe numerous microorganisms - for the first time.

1895 - X-rays discovered

German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen discovered a new type of electromagnetic radiation that could pass through and 'photograph' the inside of the body.

He recognised its medical potential but refused to patent the discovery, preferring to donate it to humanity.

1896 - X-rays used in medicine

During the Italian-Abyssinian war, Colonel Giuseppe Alvaro used X-rays to identify the position of fractures and projectiles in two wounded soldiers returning from the battlefield at Adwa.

This was the first ever application of X-rays in medicine.

1902 - first female radiologist

Irishwoman Florence Ada Stoney trained in the UK, as Ireland did not allow women to study medicine.

Despite experiencing sexual discrimination, Stoney proved herself in medical and radiological research and was awarded numerous honors for her work.

1946 - magnetic resonance

US physicist Edward Purcell discovered the effects of magnetic resonance, heralding a new era of diagnostics entailing the interaction between magnetic fields, radio waves, and the body.

He won the Nobel Prize in 1952 with fellow physicist Felix Bloch.

~1950 - nuclear medicine

First used as treatment for thyroid disease, nuclear medicine became accepted as a technique of diagnostic imaging thanks to the emission of different radioactive isotopes, aiding the study of the brain, the kidneys, the heart and the bones.

1953 - research on contrast agents

In Switzerland, Fulvio Bracco founded Eprova, the scientific experimental centre, specializing in chemotherapy and anti-tubercular drug research.

There, he pioneered contrast agents - substances that help highlight parts of the body in diagnostic images.

1958 - ultrasound

Through his experience with radar and sonar during wartime, physicist Ian Donald created a remarkable instrument of peace: the ultrasound scan, which saved countless lives.

1967 - X-ray and CT

Physicists Godfrey Hounsfield (UK) and Allan MacLeod Cormack (South Africa) worked in labs thousands of miles apart.

But both thought to develop research into X-rays and computed tomography. Their intuition led to them sharing the Nobel Prize in 1979.

1974 - positrons

When simple observation of the appearance of tissue was no longer sufficient, positron emission tomography (PET) came into play.

Invented by US biophysicist Michael E Phelps, this technology provides detailed maps of metabolic processes.

1974 - new non-ionic contrast agent

For years, researchers sought alternative contrast agents for X-ray examinations.

Fulvio Bracco came up with the answer, inventing the first contrast agent with a high tolerability level.

1985 - a new molecule

A new molecule was created, which allowed the identification of lesions to tissue not visible using other techniques.

1995 - microbubbles

An innovative contrast agent with very high tolerability for ultrasound scanning.

These gaseous 'microbubbles' substantially improved the quality of ultrasound scanning, allowing optimum visualisation of cardiac structures and blood vessels.

2001 - PET/CT

The first hybrid imaging technique combined the capability of CT (computed tomography) of visualizing the interior of the human body and pinpointing a possible lesion with efficiency of PET (positron emission tomography) in evaluating the metabolic process of the lesion.

2015 - functional and metabolic molecular imaging

Diagnostic imaging lets us see and work with infinitely small molecules, thanks to new machines and contrast agents that can be called 'intelligent probes' - microbubbles and fluorescent molecules.

2020 - diagnostics and therapy unite

Microbubbles, an intelligent system that helps us 'see' beneath the surface, will soon become vehicles to dispatch drugs to precise locations in the body.

Seeing the lesion will be the beginning of the cure.