Saturday, August 25, 2012

The rest of the story

May I channel Paul Harvey for this one item?
I'm editing a fascinating book (a welcome change) on the human implications of medical imaging (x-rays, CT scanners and such). In one chapter the author, Dr. Richard Gunderman, tells the story of Ritchie, a Liverpool boy in the 1940s who suffered a ruptured appendix and was in the hospital for a year due to complications. During his stay he developed a deep love of music. 
Ritchie was Richard Starkey, better known as Ringo Starr. He became the Beatles' drummer, and the Beatles' huge success greatly enriched their record label, EMI. With its windfall profits, EMI decided to expand into the nascent medical imaging business, and one of its scientists, Gregory Hounsfield, developed the CT scanner.
Had the CT scanner been around in the 1940s, Ringo's appendicitis might well have been diagnosed long before his appendix burst, and he would probably have been spared the long hospital stay.

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