Nobel Prize laureate George E. Smith visited Sectra to learn about photon-counting mammography
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While in Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics, George E. Smith took the opportunity to visit Sectra to discuss photon-counting and its use in the latest advances in the future of medical imaging. In the photo below, he is seen viewing Sectra MicroDose Mammography – the only system in the market that uses the unique photon-counting technology. Sectra MicroDose is designed for mammography screening. It maximizes image quality and increases throughput at 50% of the radiation dose other systems.
Nobel Prize laureate George E. Smith looking at Sectra MicroDose Mammography
About the Nobel Prize in Physics 2009
This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for two scientific achievements that have helped to shape the foundations of today’s networked societies. They have created many practical innovations for everyday life and provided new tools for scientific exploration. In 1966, Charles K. Kao made a discovery that led to a breakthrough in fiber optics. He carefully calculated how to transmit light over long distances via optical glass fibers. With a fiber of purest glass, it would be possible to transmit light signals over distances of 100 kilometers, compared to only 20 meters for the fibers available in the 1960s. Today, optical fibers make up the circulatory system that nourishes our communication society.
A large share of the traffic is made up of digital images, which constitute the second part of the award. In 1969, Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith invented the first successful imaging technology using a digital sensor, a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device). The CCD technology makes use of the photoelectric effect, as theorized by Albert Einstein and for which he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics. This effect transforms light into electric signals. The challenge when designing an image sensor was to gather and read out the signals in a large number of image points (pixels) in a short time.
The CCD is the digital camera’s electronic eye. It revolutionized photography, as light could then be captured electronically instead of on film. The digital form facilitates the processing and distribution of these images. CCD technology is also used in many medical applications, such as imaging the inside of the human body both for diagnostics and for microsurgery. (source nobelprize.org)
About the Nobel Prize
Every year since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. The Nobel Prize is an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank established the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize. Each prize consists of a medal, personal diploma, and cash award. (source nobelprize.org)
On September 1, 2011, Philips acquired the MicroDose operations from Sectra and hence all questions regarding photon-counting, low-dose mammography, MicroDose etc are referred to Philips. For more information on MicroDose Mammography or on the acquisition please go to www.philips.com/microdose
