B-Mode Echo-graphic Scanner for the Detection of Cancer
date: label: date made
content: about 1951
name: label: Associated Name
content: Neal, Donald
label: sponsor
content: University of Minnesota
label: Associated Name
content: National Cancer Institute
label: Associated Name
content: National Institutes of Health
label: maker
content: Wild, John J.
label: maker
content: Reid, John M.
notes: label: Description
content: The term piezoelectricity means "pressure-electricity." When pressure is directed towards this type of crystal, the crystal in turn produces an electric signal. Conversely, when the crystal receives an electric signal, it produces pressure in the form of sound waves. The crystal can "send" and "receive" sound waves in this way. This makes the quartz crystal a transducer, or a device that converts mechanical signals into electrical signals; the two words can be used synonymously. Wild's water-filled sound head in this model holds the piezoelectric crystal in the middle of the brass “can” instead of at the bottom of the cylinder, as earlier models did. This suspended position allowed for the transducer to be pivoted to either side using the driving mechanism seen here. The driving mechanism would also have been synchonized with the oscilloscope through the braided wires to provide data on where exactly the transducer was positioned to create an accurate image. When creating an ultrasound image, the transducer would be "swept" over an area of the tissue, meaning the operator would control the direction of the sound waves to create the image. In this two-dimensional scanner, the strength, or "loudness" of an echo would be represented by a bright blip on the screen. If there were no echo, the space would be black. The distance was recorded as well, represented by a linear point on the screen. Many points lined up created the two-dimensional image. Previously, in a one-dimensional ultrasound image, the images would be read in a single wave format.
label: Description
content: As the "image" is taken, the sound head itself would not be moved over the tissue by the operator. Instead, the potentiometer and transducer crystal would rock back and forth in a 45-degree angle in a synchronized rhythm which the oscilloscope would track and use to place the echoes in the corresponding position on the screen. The driving mechanism gear box would be wound by hand to pivot the crystal to a new angle and a second "sweep" was taken with the transducer. The second image from a different angle would be recorded over the first, creating a two-dimensional image of the tissue by recording the “time” and “amplitude” of each echo as well as its location. Thus, the "can" remained stationary, creating an uninterrupted seal for the echoes to travel into the tissue, and the pivoting transducer moved mechanically by the rocking drive shaft would create the familiar pie-shaped image. John Reid was the engineer behind this real-time, two-dimensional imaging process. John Wild and John Reid claimed the first two-dimensional ultrasound image was created using a similar machine to this one.
label: Description
content: John Wild (1914-2009) was a British medical doctor trained at Cambridge University. Work with patients during WWII motivated Wild to find a way to safely and unobtrusively treat a patient's bowel distension. The well-known success of SONAR and RADAR in military, naval, and industrial capacities led many medical doctors, including Wild, to test ultrasound's ability to image human tissue in the 1940s and 1950s. Wild immigrated to the United States in 1946 and found partners at the Wold-Chamberlain Air Station and the University of Minnesota to aid his research. Using Wold-Chamberlain equipment Wild realized he could detect cancer in a piece of dog bowel and set off to explore how ultrasound could be used to image human tissue. Sporadic grant funding, difficulty with potential partners, and excitement for the subject meant Wild often worked at home in his basement. Wild hired a recent graduate, John Reid (1926-), who had experience working with radar and radio in the Navy and had completed an engineering BA from the University of Minnesota in 1950. Before leaving to pursue a graduate degree in ultrasound research in 1957, Reid helped construct ultrasound instruments, manage the electronics, and perfect imaging capabilities. Together, Wild and Reid produced pioneering proof that ultrasound could safely image living tissue and detect human tissue abnormalities.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Associated Place
content: United States: Minnesota, Minneapolis, Wold-Chamberlain Air Base/Station
label: Associated Place
content: United States: Minnesota, Minneapolis, St. Barnabas Hospital
label: Associated Place
content: United States: Minnesota, Minneapolis, St. Barnabas Hospital
topic: label: Subject
content: Ultrasound
label: Subject
content: Radar
label: Subject
content: Medicine
label: Subject
content: Diagnostic Equipment
label: Subject
content: Imaging
label: Subject
content: Breast Cancer
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Cancer
label: See more items in
content: Cancer: Diagnosis
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Ellen L. C. Wild and Valerie C. Wild
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2015.0300.01
label: accession number
content: 2015.0300
label: catalog number
content: 2015.0300.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: ultrasound, prototype
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (sound head material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (base material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (cable material)
label: Physical Description
content: piano wire (cable material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (gears material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (handle material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 1/2 in x 8 3/4 in x 6 1/2 in; 21.59 cm x 22.225 cm x 16.51 cm
label: Measurements
content: sound head: 2 1/2 in; 6.35 cm
label: Measurements
content: cable: 44 in; 111.76 cm