3D imaging in medicine
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Tomography is defined as "a diagnostic technique using X-ray photographs in which the shadows of structures before and behind the section under scrutiny do not show." The origin of the word tomography is Greek, in which "tomos" means "section." Computerized tomography (CT) is a relatively recent development in which only the section under scrutiny is irradiated, and a computer (rather than an X-ray film) is used to produce an image of the section. (An alternative abbreviation used for the process is CAT, for computer-assisted tomography, and hence the result of applying the technology is called a CAT-Scan.) CT produces images of cross-sections of the human body from measured attenuation of X-rays through the cross-section. Since the appearance of the first commercial CT scanner in 1972 (built by EMI, Ltd), CT has revolutionized diagnostic radiology. The 1979 Nobel prize in medicine was awarded to Allan M. Cormack and Godfrey N. Hounsfield for their pioneering contributions to the development of CT.