this powerpoint was prepared by Shaweta Khosa for the "FESTSCHRIFT IN HONOR OF “WILLIAM H. OLDENDORF”, M.D. 25th Death Anniverary , who was a Neurologist, Teacher, Neuroscientist and Humantist at Wadsworth VA Hospital and UCLA schoold of Medicine."

1. Dr.William Oldendorf
By:
SHAWETA KHOSA

2. William H. Oldendorf, M.D.
Biography (1925-1992)
• He was born in Schenectady, N.Y., on March 27, 1925
• He was the youngest of four children, graduating from high
school at age 15
• attended Union College in N.Y. and finished it in three years.
• He earned his medical degree from Albany Medical College
in 1947.
The true Father of Neuroimaging

3. • He completed his residency in psychiatry at the New York State Department of
Mental Health residency training program.
• He then went on to serve in the US Navy as a medical officer at the US Naval
Hospital in Newport, Rhode Island for 2 years.
• After leaving the US Navy: he entered a fellowship in neurology at the
University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and was subsequently certified by the
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology as a diplomate in both
specialties.

4. William Oldendorf (1925-
1992)
– Dr William Oldendorf the first designer of the Axial tomography which led to
development of CT Scanner
– While being an active member of UCLA’s academic community, where his scientific,
clinical, and teaching abilities were highly admired from the outset. During this
period, Oldendorf resurrected the idea of tomography and innovated on it.
– After performing numerous cerebral angiographies and PEGs, Oldendorf, frustrated
by the gross inadequacy, and concerned about the hazards, morbidity, and mortality
associated with these procedures, approached the scanning problem in the 1950’s.
– Bill's mind was Einstein's universe, finite, but boundless. Always reaching into
spheres you wouldn't imagine." These are the words of L. Jolyon West, MD, Chairman
of Psychiatry at UCLA

5. – In 1959, Oldendorf declared his goal “to scan a head
through a transmitted beam of X-rays, and to reconstruct
the radio density patterns of a plane through the head.
• He wrote: “I developed a distaste for
these procedures. During the waiting
periods between films, I began to
imagine how one might do away with
these traumatic, arduous, tedious
tests, which provided only limited and
indirect information about the brain.
Broad, William J. Riddle of the Nobel
Debate. Science 1980; 207; 37.

6. Continue introduction:
• Oldendorf (1980) in his book “The Quest for an image of
brain” cites William Morton’s 1896 work titled The X Ray as
the first published skull radiograph.
• Despite numerous advances in X ray technology, no direct
images of brain were generated till the 1970s.
• Only indirect assessments based on skull asymmetry,
lesions or pathologies like neoplasm's causing opacities like
calcification were visualized.

8. • He is the author of more than 250 scientific publications,
including 3 textbooks.
• He also received many honorary degrees and awards,
including the President's Award for Distinguished Federal
Civilian Service,
• He was on several editorial boards and was a Fellow of
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and many
other organizations. In 1992, he was the first neurologist
in the 20th century to be elected to the National
Academy of Sciences.
• In 1956, Oldendorf joined the University of California
Los Angeles (UCLA) faculty and the neurology staff
of the nearby UCLA-affiliated West Los Angeles
Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC).
•

9. • He quickly became an active member of UCLA’s academic community,
where his scientific, clinical, and teaching abilities were highly admired
from the outset. During this period, Old- endorf resurrected the idea of
tomography and innovated on it.
 In addition to his wife stella, Dr. Oldendorf is survived by three sons:
 Eric Oldendorf, of Los Angeles,
 Mark Oldendorf, of Albany, and
 William Oldendorf Jr., of Sherman Oaks, Calif.;
 two sisters, Florence Karlen, of Schenectady, and Dorothy Brown, of
Duanesburg, N.Y., and three grandchildren.
• Dr. William died of complications of heart disease,. in a Los
Angeles hospital on Dec. 14 1992.
• He was 67 years old at time of his death and lived in Los
Angeles.

10. Concept of Axial Tomography
• First brought forth as “Planigraphy”
• by a Dutch neurologist/radiologist, B.G. Ziedses Des Plantes
• Prof Radiology at University of Amsterdam
– Idea: 1921, Yr. I Med Student
– Tomograms 1931
• He envisioned moving an X-ray tube and radiographic plate in
a controlled manner, such that all the visualized structures
excluding those within a single plane were blurred.
• A number of other European physicists were involved in the
1930s in the developing this concept, before it finally reached
UK and the USA.
• The concept finally gave way to the biggest breakthrough in
Neuroimaging, “The CAT Scanner”.
BG Ziedses Des
Plantes

11. William Oldendorf & the CAT Scanner
• William Oldendorf was a well known Neurologist and
psychiatrist at the VA West LA and UCLA.
• I have had the unique pleasure of knowing him
personally as My teacher when I was resident at
UCLA.
• Oldendorf was influential in evolving the concept of
CAT Scanner.
William Oldendorf

12. • He aimed to produce a radiographic cross-section that would
delineate the distribution of tissue structures based on regional
radio density.
– Inspired by a young engineer’s attempts to use X-rays to detect
dehydrated regions in frostbitten oranges, Oldendorf developed a
model using domestic materials such ranging from a frying pan to
his son’s discarded train set
• In 1961, Oldendorf wrote his first paper on radiographic
tomography.
– In 1963 he patented his model for a “Radiant Energy Apparatus for
investigating selected areas of the interior of objects obscured by
dense material”.

13. Oldendorf’s early struggle:
– Oldendorf’s concept was revolutionary, but such a machine
had a probable cost of $250,000, and major X-ray
manufacturers unwilling to risk the capital, denied his
request for backing,
– Industry Rejection of CT Concept
– Neurological Disinterest
– Hounsfield Scoop

14. William Oldendorf & the CAT Scanner
In his prototype, a gamma ray source and detector were placed
opposite to each other with a simulated head in the middle, the
source and detector arrangement was capable of revolving 360
degrees around the head. A capacitance circuit was then used to
imitate these internal points.

15. William Oldendorf & the CAT Scanner
A sketch from Oldendorf’s patent demonstrating the principle of his device. Changes in
intensities of gamma rays are observed as they pass through regions of varying radiodensity,
these changes in intensity are plotted against time in the graphs (3A). The changes become
more apparent when the object rotates on an axis within itself (3B, 3C). Furthermore, as the
penetrating beam looks continuously at the axis of rotation, the graphs provide lateral
translation of the axis through the object. In other words discrete regions within the object
defined by the intersection of the beam with the axis of rotation are isolated, while all other
regions within the object are rejected by virtue of their transverse motion across the beam.

16. William Oldendorf & the CAT Scanner
• Having isolated one such internal point or a discrete region
of the simulated head, other regions can be successively
observed by providing a relative linear movement between
the simulated head and the axis of rotation.
• Thus a line through the simulated head is observed, and
when plurality of such lines parallel to each other are
taken, the entire interior of the head can be effectively
observed

17. CAT Scanner
– In 1963, Allan McLeod Cormack a
American physicist, came up with a similar
concept for Axial Tomography as
Oldendorf but with a more detailed
mathematical explanation.
– Finally, in 1970 Godfrey Newbold
Hounsfield a computer engineer from
England, was able to put to production a
device for Axial Tomography Scan similar
concept for Axial Tomography as
Oldendorf.
– In 1979 Cormack and Hounsfield received
the Nobel Prize in Physiology and
Medicine for “Computer Assisted
Tomography”
Godfrey Newbold
Hounsfield
Allan McLeod
Cormack

18. Awards And prizes
– In 1974, he was awarded the first Ziedses des
Plantes Medal by the German Society of
Neuroradiology and the Medical Physics Society of
Wurzburg in recognition of his pioneering study.
– In 1975, he was awarded the prestigious Albert
and Mary Lasker Award "for his original concept of
the principles which demonstrated the feasibility of
computerized tomographic scanning.".
– Aebersold Award of Society of Nuclear Medicine
1978
– William S. Middleton Award from VA 1976
A) Oldendorf and Hounsfield
receiving the 1975 Lasker
Award; (B) Oldendorf’s
prototype.1

19. Awards Continue….
– U.S. Presidential Award for Distinguished Service 1981
– Gold Metal Award of German Neuroradiological Society
1974
– Wartenberg and Cotzias Lectures, Amer Acad Neurology
– Election to National Academy of Science
– Hounsfield’s Acknowledgement

20. Creditionals Continue….
– Oldendorf was also
– Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (1986),
– Distinguished Founder of the American Board of Nuclear Medicine
Science,
– Honorary Doctorate of Science (1982) from Albany Medical
College and Union College,
– Honorary Doctorate of Science (1986) from St. Louis University, and
– Keynote Speaker at the annual meeting of the Japanese Society of
Neuroradiology in Tokyo in February, 1990

21. American society of
Neuroimaging
– William H. Oldendorf, MD
ASN President 1978-1979
– 1978
– Annual meeting held in Hilton Head, South Carolina
– The first examination by a national organization in the field
of neuroimaging given. Organized by Dr. William Kinkel -
100 physicians took the exam
– Neurosonology voted in by Board to be a part of the
Society
– Number of CT scanners in the US exceeds 800

22. The Politics surrounding the
1979 Nobel Prize
– Rosalind Yalow, a Nobel laureate in physiology and
medicine in 1977, went on to nominate Oldendorf for the
prize and was upset that he did not get it.
– The history of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine,
demonstrates relentless discrimination against the
physician-clinician from the basic science faction of the
Nobel Assembly.

23. • In 1979, although Oldendorf, Hounsfield, and Cormack all
deserved the prize, a deadlock persisted in the Assembly.
• According to the code of statutes for the Nobel Foundation,
and the will of Alfred Nobel, “the prize may in no case be
divided between more than three persons.” .
• However, the probable elimination of a third name
(William Oldendorf’s) led the Karolinska Institute to
announce the winners on October 11, 1979 an hour late,
and solely in the Swedish language
• The Nobel Assembly claimed that “the problem was
basically a mathematical one.”
• Cormack and Hounsfield used mathematics to produce a
visual representation of a cross-section of the human body.
• Though Oldendorf simulated the same model without
mathematical basis before Cormack and Hounsfield’s efforts,
he failed to receive the award.

24. • The intention of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is to award based
on “the greatest benefit to mankind and discovery.”
• The phrase “greatest benefit to mankind” is more applicable to a clinical
setting, a setting that the Nobel Assembly routinely ignores.
• Oldendorf, who aimed to eliminate invasive and painful procedures such as
PEG and cerebral angiography, certainly had the benefit of mankind in mind.
• While “discovery”, meaning a sudden increase in new knowledge or a
scientific breakthrough of high originality, is easier to define in the basic
sciences, it is evident that Oldendorf’s model, created from everyday sources,
was a discovery of high originality

25. What this history means for us
today
– Technology should never be limited to the domain of a certain
specialty, particularly when patient care is on the line.
– Today, diagnostic scanning is an integral part of neurologic
practice and diagnosis, and is a natural extension of any
neurologist’s duties.
– Erosion of a neurologist’s imaging privileges and amplification
of a neuroradiologist’s domain affects the speed and
effectiveness of image interpretation and ultimately leads to
unacceptable patient care.

26. • Such historical territories have led to a sense of entitlement for
radiologists, though specialty physicians and neurologists who have seen
cases for years are clearly more competent and effective in interpreting
diagnostic scans.
• In his President’s Message for the November 2007 American Society for
Neuroradiology (ASNR) E-News, David M. Yousem urges neuroradiologists
to engage in “strategic maneuvers” for promoting rejection of
nonradiologists out of neuroradiology fellowship programs.
• He further goes on to suggest objection to manufacturers that sell MR/CT
equipment to nonradiologists, and denial of scanning privileges to
hospitals that allow nonradiology interpretations of neuroimaging studies.
• Yousem’s proposals represent a sad abuse of authority over scanning
devices, which have ironically come about from neuroscientific research
mostly performed by neurologists and Neuroscientists and not
radiologists.

27. Summary
– Clearly, the mission of all physicians : should override issues of
income or domain and ultimately focus on effective patient
care.
– The desirable goals of neuroradiologists and neurologists alike
are exemplified in the words of Alfred Nobel in his criterion for
the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. “benefit ailing
mankind”.
– The dedication of the father of neuroimaging, Dr. William
Oldendorf : legacy can even today be honored by ending the
neuroimaging turf battle with the neuroradiologists and
neurologists working in unison for the betterment of science
and our patients.

28. Thank You
"Bill's mind was Einstein's universe,
finite, but boundless. Always reaching
into spheres you wouldn't imagine."
These are the words of L. Jolyon West,
MD, Chairman of Psychiatry at UCLA
The fields of both neuroradiology and
neurology are indebted to Oldendorf for his
propulsion of diagnostic neuroimaging
beyond research and into clinical practice.