Godfrey Hounsfield
British electrical engineer who co-developed CT scanning.
Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield ( HOWNZ-feeld; 28 August 1919 – 12 August 2004) was a British electrical engineer who, alongside Allan MacLeod Cormack, received the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for helping create X-ray computed tomography (CT). His legacy includes the Hounsfield scale, a standard way to measure radiodensity in CT scans, expressed in Hounsfield units (HU). This scale ranges from −1000 HU for air, through 0 HU for water, up to +1000 HU or more for dense cortical bone.
Hounsfield was born on 28 August 1919 in Sutton-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, the youngest of five children. His father, Thomas Hounsfield, farmed in Beighton and belonged to the well-known Hounsfield and Newbold families of Hackenthorpe Hall; his mother was Blanche Dilcock. As a boy, he was captivated by the electrical gadgets and machinery on the family farm. From ages eleven to eighteen, he built his own electrical recording machines, constructed a homemade glider that he launched from haystacks, and nearly killed himself experimenting with water-filled tar barrels and acetylene to see how high they could be propelled. He attended Magnus Grammar School in Newark-on-Trent but was not an academic student.
Just before World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force as a volunteer reservist, learning the basics of electronics and radar. After the war, he studied at Faraday House Electrical Engineering College in London, earning a Diploma of Faraday House (DFH). Faraday House was a specialist college offering university-level electrical engineering education that blended practical work with theory.
In 1949, Hounsfield started work at EMI, Ltd. in Hayes, Middlesex, researching guided weapons and radar. (Though his Nobel autobiography says 1951, the correct start date is 10 October 1949.) At EMI, he grew interested in computers and, in 1958, helped design the EMIDEC 1100, the first commercially available all-transistor computer built in Great Britain. Soon after, he began developing the CT scanner. He kept improving the technology, introducing a whole-body scanner in 1975, and remained at EMI as a senior researcher (and, after retiring in 1984, as a consultant). The idea for CT scanning came to him during a country walk: he thought one could figure out what was inside a box by taking X-ray readings from all angles around it. He then built a computer that could combine those
- born
- 28 August 1919, Sutton-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England
- died
- 12 August 2004, Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England
- field
- Electrical engineering
- nationality
- British
- known_for
- Development of X-ray computed tomography (CT); Hounsfield scale
Lore & Background
Hounsfield was born on 28 August 1919 in Sutton-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, the youngest of five children. His father was a farmer, and as a child Hounsfield was fascinated by electrical gadgets and machinery on the farm. Between ages eleven and eighteen, he built his own electrical recording machines, a homemade glider, and experimented with water-filled tar barrels and acetylene. He attended Magnus Grammar School but was not academic. Shortly before World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force as a volunteer reservist, learning electronics and radar. After the war, he attended Faraday House Electrical Engineering College in London, graduating with the Diploma of Faraday House.
In 1949, Hounsfield began work at EMI, Ltd. in Hayes, Middlesex, researching guided weapon systems and radar. He became interested in computers and in 1958 helped design the first commercially available all-transistor computer made in Great Britain: the EMIDEC 1100. While on a country outing, he conceived the idea of taking X-ray readings at all angles around an object to determine its contents. He built a prototype head scanner, testing it on a preserved human brain, a fresh cow brain, and later on himself. On 1 October 1971, CT scanning was introduced into medical practice with a successful scan on a cerebral cyst patient at Atkinson Morley Hospital in London. In 1975, he built a whole-body scanner.
Reader's Guide
Hounsfield's development of X-ray computed tomography revolutionized medical imaging by allowing non-invasive visualization of internal structures in cross-sectional 'slices.' His work, alongside Allan MacLeod Cormack's theoretical contributions, earned them the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The Hounsfield scale, measured in Hounsfield units, remains the standard for quantifying radiodensity in CT scans, with values ranging from air at −1000 HU through water at 0 HU to dense cortical bone at +1000 HU and beyond. His prototype scanner, first tested on preserved and animal tissues before being used on a patient in 1971, led to the whole-body scanner in 1975. The principles he established continue to underpin CT technology worldwide. Hounsfield was knighted in 1981 and received numerous honors, including election as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1975. The Hounsfield Facility at the University of Nottingham, opened in 2014, applies CT scanning to biomaterials and environmental exploration, extending his legacy beyond medicine.
Did You Know?
- Hounsfield tested his prototype CT scanner on a preserved human brain, a fresh cow brain from a butcher’s shop, and later on himself.
- The Hounsfield scale runs from air at −1000 HU through water at 0 HU to dense cortical bone at +1000 HU and more.
- He helped design the EMIDEC 1100, the first commercially available all-transistor computer made in Great Britain.
- Hounsfield used his Nobel prize money to build a personal laboratory in his home after retiring from EMI in 1986.
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