Maizlin Zeev V, Vos Patrick M
Centre for Medical and Radiology History and Department of Radiology, McMaster University Medical Centre, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
J Comput Assist Tomogr. 2012 Mar-Apr;36(2):161-4. doi: 10.1097/RCT.0b013e318249416f.
It is commonly believed that the revenues from the selling of the Beatles' records by Electric and Musical Industries (EMI) allowed the company to develop the computed tomography (CT) scanner. Some went to define this as the Beatles' gift to medicine. However, significant controversies and discrepancies arise from analysis of this statement, making its correctness doubtful. The details of financing required for the CT development and the part of EMI in financial input have never been publicly announced. This work analyzes the financial contributions to the CT development and investigates if the revenues received from the sales of the Beatles' records were used for the creation of the CT scanner. Timeline of the development of the EMI CT scanner and the financial inputs of EMI and British Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) were assessed. Without salary expenses to Godfrey Hounsfield and his team, the development of the CT scanner cost EMI approximately £100,000. The British DHSS's expenses were £606,000. Hence, the financial contribution of DHSS into the development of the CT scanner was significantly bigger than that of EMI. Accordingly, British tax payers and officials of British DHSS are to be thanked for the CT scanner. The Beatles' input into the world's culture is valuable and does not require decoration by nonexistent connection to the development of CT. A positive aspect to this misconception is that it keeps in public memory the name of the company that developed the CT scanner.
人们普遍认为,百代唱片公司(EMI)销售披头士乐队唱片的收入使该公司得以研发计算机断层扫描(CT)扫描仪。有些人甚至将此定义为披头士乐队对医学的馈赠。然而,对这一说法的分析引发了重大争议和分歧,其正确性令人怀疑。CT扫描仪研发所需的融资细节以及EMI在资金投入方面的份额从未公开披露。本文分析了对CT扫描仪研发的资金贡献,并调查了披头士乐队唱片销售所得收入是否用于CT扫描仪的研发。评估了EMI CT扫描仪的研发时间表以及EMI和英国卫生与社会保障部(DHSS)的资金投入。在不计算戈弗雷·豪斯菲尔德及其团队薪资支出的情况下,CT扫描仪的研发使EMI花费了约10万英镑。英国DHSS的支出为60.6万英镑。因此,DHSS对CT扫描仪研发的资金贡献远大于EMI。相应地,应该感谢英国纳税人以及英国DHSS的官员促成了CT扫描仪的诞生。披头士乐队对世界文化的贡献是有价值的,无需通过与CT扫描仪研发不存在的关联来加以粉饰。这种误解的一个积极方面是,它让研发CT扫描仪的公司名称一直留在公众记忆中。