Pioneering Tomographic Emission Imaging
David E Kuhl and colleagues developed early tomographic emission imaging methods in the 1960s which combined radiotracer techniques with tomographic reconstruction to produce three dimensional maps of physiologic processes and these innovations laid groundwork for modern SPECT and PET imaging
Clinical and Research Impact
Kuhls work enabled more accurate localization and quantification of functional abnormalities in neurology cardiology and oncology and supported research into brain function and disease and into metabolic imaging of tumors and his methods influenced subsequent instrument design and reconstruction algorithms
Path to Modern Molecular Imaging
Emission tomography evolved into robust clinical modalities through improvements in detectors radiochemistry and computing and Kuhl’s early demonstrations are recognized as key steps in translating tracer based physiology into clinically actionable tomographic images