Medical Imaging Timeline
Healthcare technologies:
Major events in the advances in medical imaging technology.
Issued: 21 December 2006
An Image for the Future
Healthcare technologies:
Combining imaging techniques can already improve the detection of diseases, and pioneering research in imaging will undoubtedly provide even more powerful diagnostic tools in the future.
Issued: 21 December 2006
PET
Healthcare technologies:
Positron emission tomography (PET) was first proposed in the 1960s, but it is only recently that its importance as a clinical tool has been recognised in the UK.
Issued: 21 December 2006
Ultrasound Imaging
Healthcare technologies:
Ultrasound is best known for monitoring unborn babies. But it can also be used to detect liver, kidney, heart and vascular problems.
Issued: 21 December 2006
CT and MRI
Healthcare technologies:
X-rays have long been used in medicine to help diagnosis. But in 1972, a new imaging technique based on x-rays was invented.
Issued: 21 December 2006
Aircraft timeline
Engineering:
The major events in the developmet of aircraft.
Issued: 20 December 2006
Forensic Science Timeline
Global uncertainties:
Major events in the advances of forensic science.
Issued: 20 December 2006
More on the Horizon
Engineering:
Current research is concentrating on making aero engines more efficient, making aircraft structures stronger, lighter and cheaper to produce, and developing ever more sophisticated ways to control the aircraft and all its systems.
Issued: 20 December 2006
Lighter Stronger Structures
Engineering:
Aircraft structures were first made of canvas and wood until aluminium took over in the 1920s. It remains a useful material and metallurgists have worked hard to develop better aluminium alloys.
Issued: 20 December 2006
Engineering Efficient Engines
Engineering:
Piston engines were used for the first aircraft, but were soon supplanted by gas turbines, or jet engines. Over the years, engines have become steadily more compact, more powerful and more efficient.
Issued: 20 December 2006
Computer Control
Engineering:
Aircraft were initially controlled by pilots shifting their body weight or warping the planes' wings. By the 1940s, the invention of the autopilot changed all this, taking over control and guidance of an aircraft.
Issued: 20 December 2006
Big Brother gets Smarter
Global uncertainties:
Surveillance is a key tool in the fight against crime. There are many automated surveillance systems on the market that allow either live analysis of CCTV images or the playback of recordings.
Issued: 20 December 2006
Fingerprints
Global uncertainties:
The system of using fingerprints to identify people is attributed to a team led by Edward Henry, an Englishman working in India in the 1890s. Later adopted in the US and Europe, this system is still used today.
Issued: 20 December 2006
The Eyes have it...
Global uncertainties:
Fingerprints and DNA apart, there are many other ways to recognise people.
Issued: 20 December 2006
Detection in the 21st Century
Global uncertainties:
As research advances, it enables the production of smaller, less expensive, more accurate, more sensitive, portable, more robust, fast sensors for detecting even trace forensic samples.
Issued: 20 December 2006
DNA Profiling - A Giant Leap Forward
Global uncertainties:
DNA profiling now helps to prove innocence or guilt, resolve immigration arguments and clarify paternity cases. Based on groundbreaking work undertaken at the University of Leicester, hundreds of DNA samples can processed in a day.
Issued: 20 December 2006
The perfect crossing
Engineering:
Supporting bridges past and present.
Issued: 05 July 2006
Microwaving tumours
Engineering:
Medical engineering: a new way to fight liver cancer
Issued: 05 July 2006
The rail legacy
Engineering:
Engineering better railways for everyone.
Issued: 05 July 2006
Marine dreams
Engineering:
Ship Science for Today’s Advanced Vessels.
Issued: 05 July 2006
Joint action
Engineering:
Medical engineering: putting new feet through their paces
Issued: 05 July 2006
Cutting bones with sound
Engineering:
Medical engineering: developing new tools for surgeons
Issued: 05 July 2006
Our food's electric
Engineering:
Electrical engineering: zapping bacteria from food
Issued: 05 July 2006
Micro machines
Engineering:
Micro engineering: tiny systems for future telecoms
Issued: 05 July 2006
Catching purity
Engineering:
Chemical engineering: the mechanics of molecule catching
Issued: 05 July 2006
Detection system aims to show bioterrorism’s true colours
Global uncertainties:
A new technique for rapid, on-the-spot detection of dangerous biological substances could give a major boost to anti-terrorist operations worldwide.
Issued: 23 March 2006
Faster DNA profiling could lead to quicker arrests
Physical sciences:
A new, speedier method of DNA profiling is being developed that could help police identify and apprehend suspects more rapidly than previously possible.
Issued: 23 March 2006
Using SPRAT to catch a villain
Physical sciences:
An initiative to explore the scope for a computerised system that can recognise different types of shoeprint may lead to an effective new crime-fighting tool.
Issued: 23 March 2006
Sensing technique is a step ahead of the criminal
Global uncertainties:
An innovative sensing technique now under development could make it easier to detect drugs and explosives during customs and security checks.
Issued: 23 March 2006
Scanning technology leaves drugs nowhere to hide
Global uncertainties:
A portable detection system that incorporates novel scanning technology could represent a valuable new weapon in the battle against drug trafficking and abuse.
Issued: 23 March 2006
Protein profiling offers new possibilities in cracking crime
Physical sciences:
State-of-the-art technologies that analyse body proteins quickly and accurately look set to provide a valuable new weapon in the fight against crime.
Issued: 23 March 2006
Accurate ageing of human remains could bring killers to justice
Global uncertainties:
A new laboratory technique to help identify skeletons and decomposed bodies could play a key role in ensuring that murderers and war criminals are brought to justice.
Issued: 23 March 2006
Tackling violent crime through improved fingerprint recovery from metals
Global uncertainties:
Innovative technology that recovers fingerprints from metal surfaces such as gun cartridges and bomb fragments could help track down armed robbers and others responsible for serious crimes.
Issued: 23 March 2006
Portable DNA analyser could cut the cost of fighting crime
Physical sciences:
A revolutionary DNA testing device that avoids the need for laboratory analysis could lead to valuable time and cost savings in police operations.
Issued: 23 March 2006
Colour chemistry could win the war on terror
Global uncertainties:
Nerve and blister agents, asphyxiants and similar substances designed for use as weapons could be easier and cheaper to detect, thanks to leading-edge research now under way.
Issued: 23 March 2006
British sea power
Energy:
Integrating marine and tidal power.
Issued: 25 January 2006
Going global
Energy:
Energy's international dimension.
Issued: 25 January 2006