ACTA Model 0100 CT Scanner

Description:

CT (computed tomography), sometimes called CAT (computer-assisted tomography) scanning, uses x-ray equipment to obtain image data from different angles around the body, and then computers to process that information and show a cross-section of body tissues and organs. It can show soft tissue such as lung and blood vessels, as well as hard tissues such as bone.

The 0100 ACTA Scanner (Automated, Computerized, Transverse Axial Scanner) was the first whole-body scanner. Earlier machines scanned only the head and needed a water bath. The ACTA scanner was devised by Robert Steven Ledley (1926–2012), and put into clinical operation in 1973.

Robert Steven Ledley (1926-2012) held a dental degree from New York University and an M.A. in physics from Columbia University, and served in the Army Dental Corps during the Korean War. He then landed a job at the National Bureau of Standards. So too did his wife, Terry Wachtel, and her experience writing programs for the SEAC mainframe computer led him to become interested in computers. In 1956, Dr. Ledley became an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science. In the early 1970s, he assembled a group or researchers at the Georgetown University Medical Center to build the ACTA Scanner. In 1974, he established the Digital Information Science Corporation, to make and market ACTA scanners.

Ref: “Md. Man to Join Inventors Hall of Fame,” Washington Post (Feb. 15, 1990), pp. 1 and 3.

“Robert S. Ledley, 86, Dies; Revolutionized Radiology,” New York Times (July 26, 2012), p. A23.