Paul Lauterbur
Encyclopedia
Paul Christian Lauterbur (May 6, 1929 – March 27, 2007) was an American
chemist
who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
in 2003 with Peter Mansfield
for his work which made the development of magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) possible.
Dr. Lauterbur was a professor along with his wife Joan at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
for 22 years until his death in Urbana
. He never stopped working with undergraduates on research, and he served as a professor of chemistry, with appointments in bioengineering, biophysics and computational biology at the Center for Advanced Study.
, Lauterbur graduated from Sidney High School
, where a new Chemistry, Physics, and Biology wing was dedicated in his honor. He did his undergraduate work at Case Institute of Technology
in Cleveland, which is now known as Case Western Reserve University
. As a teenager, he built his own laboratory
in the basement of his parents' house. His chemistry
teacher at school understood that he enjoyed experimenting on his own, so the teacher allowed him to do his own experiments at the back of class. When he was drafted into the Army
in the 1950s, his superiors allowed him to spend his time working on an early nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR) machine; he had published four scientific papers by the time he left the Army.
and credits the idea of the MRI to a brainstorm one day at a suburban Pittsburgh
Big Boy
, with the MRI's first model scribbled on a table napkin. The further research that led to the Nobel Prize was performed at Stony Brook University in the 1970s.
The Nobel Prize in Physics
in 1952, which went to Felix Bloch
and Edward Purcell
, was for the development of nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR), the scientific principle behind MRI. However, for decades magnetic resonance was used mainly for studying the chemical structure
of substances. It wasn't until the 1970s with Lauterbur's and Mansfield's developments that NMR could be used to produce images of the body.
Lauterbur is credited for the idea of introducing gradients in the magnetic field
which allows for determining the origin of the radio wave
s emitted from the nuclei
of the object of study. This spatial information allows two-dimensional pictures to be produced.
While Lauterbur conducted his work at Stony Brook, the best NMR machine on campus belonged to the chemistry department; he would have to visit it at night to use it for experimentation and would carefully change the settings so that they would return to those of the chemists' as he left. The original MRI machine is located at the Chemistry building on the campus of the State University of New York at Stony Brook in Stony Brook, New York
.
Some of the first images taken by Lauterbur included those of a clam his daughter had collected on the beach at the Long Island Sound
, green peppers and two test tubes of heavy water within a beaker of ordinary water; no other imaging technique in existence at that time could distinguish between two different kinds of water. This last achievement is particularly important as the human body consists mostly of water.
When Lauterbur first submitted his paper with his discoveries to Nature
, the paper was rejected by the editors of the journal. Lauterbur persisted and requested them to review it again, upon which time it was published and is now acknowledged as a classic Nature paper. The Nature editors pointed out that the pictures accompanying the paper were too fuzzy, although they were the first images to show the difference between heavy water and ordinary water. Lauterbur said of the initial rejection: "You could write the entire history of science in the last 50 years in terms of papers rejected by Science
or Nature."
Peter Mansfield of the University of Nottingham
in the United Kingdom
took Lauterbur's initial work another step further, developing a mathematical process to speed the image reading.
Lauterbur attempted to file patents related to his work to commercialize it unsuccessfully. Stony Brook chose not to pursue patents, thinking that the expense would not pay off in the end. "The company that was in charge of such applications decided that it would not repay the expense of getting a patent. That turned out not to be a spectacularly good decision," Lauterbur said in 2003. He attempted to get the federal government to pay for an early prototype of the MRI machine for years in the 1970s, and the process took a decade. The University of Nottingham did file patents which later made Mansfield wealthy.
, The Washington Post
and The Los Angeles Times headlined "The Shameful Wrong That Must Be Righted" saying that the Nobel committee had not included him as a Prize winner alongside Lauterbur and Mansfield for his early work on the MRI. Damadian claimed that he discovered MRI and the two Nobel-winning scientists refined his technology. The New York Times published an editorial saying that while scientists credit Damadian for holding an early patent in MRI technology, Lauterbur and Mansfield expanded upon Herman Carr
's technique in order to produce first 2D and then 3D MR images. The editorial deems this to be worthy of a Nobel prize even though it states clearly in Alfred Nobel's will that prizes are not to be given out solely on the basis of improving an existing technology for commercial use. The newspaper then points out a few cases in which precursor discoveries had been awarded with a Nobel, along with a few deserving cases in which it had not, such as Rosalind Franklin
and Oswald Avery
.
disease at his home in Urbana, Illinois
. University of Illinois Chancellor Richard Herman
said, "Paul's influence is felt around the world every day, every time an MRI saves the life of a daughter or a son, a mother or a father."
Honorary Degrees:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
in 2003 with Peter Mansfield
Peter Mansfield
Sir Peter Mansfield, FRS, , is a British physicist who was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries concerning magnetic resonance imaging . The Nobel Prize was shared with Paul Lauterbur, who also contributed to the development of MRI...
for his work which made the development of magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , or magnetic resonance tomography is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structures...
(MRI) possible.
Dr. Lauterbur was a professor along with his wife Joan at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
for 22 years until his death in Urbana
Urbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
. He never stopped working with undergraduates on research, and he served as a professor of chemistry, with appointments in bioengineering, biophysics and computational biology at the Center for Advanced Study.
Early life
Lauterbur was of Luxembourgish ancestry. Born and raised in Sidney, OhioSidney, Ohio
Sidney is a city in Shelby County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,211 at the 2000 census. It is named after English poet Sir Phillip Sidney and is the county seat of Shelby County.Sidney was the recipient of the 1964 All-America City Award...
, Lauterbur graduated from Sidney High School
Sidney High School (Ohio)
Sidney High School is a public high school in Sidney, Ohio which is located 40 miles north of Dayton, Ohio on Interstate 75. It is the only public high school in the Sidney City Schools district.-Notable alumni:* Lois Lenski, writer...
, where a new Chemistry, Physics, and Biology wing was dedicated in his honor. He did his undergraduate work at Case Institute of Technology
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
in Cleveland, which is now known as Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
. As a teenager, he built his own laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
in the basement of his parents' house. His chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
teacher at school understood that he enjoyed experimenting on his own, so the teacher allowed him to do his own experiments at the back of class. When he was drafted into the Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in the 1950s, his superiors allowed him to spend his time working on an early nuclear magnetic resonance
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Nuclear magnetic resonance is a physical phenomenon in which magnetic nuclei in a magnetic field absorb and re-emit electromagnetic radiation...
(NMR) machine; he had published four scientific papers by the time he left the Army.
The development of the MRI
Lauterbur is a 1962 graduate of the University of PittsburghUniversity of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
and credits the idea of the MRI to a brainstorm one day at a suburban Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
Big Boy
Big Boy (restaurant)
Big Boy is a restaurant chain with its headquarters in Warren, Michigan.Big Boy was started in 1936 by Bob Wian, in partnership with Arnold Peterson in Glendale, California, USA. Marriott Corporation bought the chain in 1967...
, with the MRI's first model scribbled on a table napkin. The further research that led to the Nobel Prize was performed at Stony Brook University in the 1970s.
The Nobel Prize in Physics
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
in 1952, which went to Felix Bloch
Felix Bloch
Felix Bloch was a Swiss physicist, working mainly in the U.S.-Life and work:Bloch was born in Zürich, Switzerland to Jewish parents Gustav and Agnes Bloch. He was educated there and at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, also in Zürich. Initially studying engineering he soon changed to physics...
and Edward Purcell
Edward Mills Purcell
Edward Mills Purcell was an American physicist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize for Physics for his independent discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance in liquids and in solids. Nuclear magnetic resonance has become widely used to study the molecular structure of pure materials and the...
, was for the development of nuclear magnetic resonance
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Nuclear magnetic resonance is a physical phenomenon in which magnetic nuclei in a magnetic field absorb and re-emit electromagnetic radiation...
(NMR), the scientific principle behind MRI. However, for decades magnetic resonance was used mainly for studying the chemical structure
Chemical structure
A chemical structure includes molecular geometry, electronic structure and crystal structure of molecules. Molecular geometry refers to the spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule and the chemical bonds that hold the atoms together. Molecular geometry can range from the very simple, such as...
of substances. It wasn't until the 1970s with Lauterbur's and Mansfield's developments that NMR could be used to produce images of the body.
Lauterbur is credited for the idea of introducing gradients in the magnetic field
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
which allows for determining the origin of the radio wave
Radio Wave
Radio Wave may refer to:*Radio frequency*Radio Wave 96.5, a radio station in Blackpool, UK...
s emitted from the nuclei
Atomic nucleus
The nucleus is the very dense region consisting of protons and neutrons at the center of an atom. It was discovered in 1911, as a result of Ernest Rutherford's interpretation of the famous 1909 Rutherford experiment performed by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden, under the direction of Rutherford. The...
of the object of study. This spatial information allows two-dimensional pictures to be produced.
While Lauterbur conducted his work at Stony Brook, the best NMR machine on campus belonged to the chemistry department; he would have to visit it at night to use it for experimentation and would carefully change the settings so that they would return to those of the chemists' as he left. The original MRI machine is located at the Chemistry building on the campus of the State University of New York at Stony Brook in Stony Brook, New York
Stony Brook, New York
Stony Brook is a hamlet located in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, which is on the North Shore of Long Island...
.
Some of the first images taken by Lauterbur included those of a clam his daughter had collected on the beach at the Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
, green peppers and two test tubes of heavy water within a beaker of ordinary water; no other imaging technique in existence at that time could distinguish between two different kinds of water. This last achievement is particularly important as the human body consists mostly of water.
When Lauterbur first submitted his paper with his discoveries to Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
, the paper was rejected by the editors of the journal. Lauterbur persisted and requested them to review it again, upon which time it was published and is now acknowledged as a classic Nature paper. The Nature editors pointed out that the pictures accompanying the paper were too fuzzy, although they were the first images to show the difference between heavy water and ordinary water. Lauterbur said of the initial rejection: "You could write the entire history of science in the last 50 years in terms of papers rejected by Science
Science (journal)
Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
or Nature."
Peter Mansfield of the University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
took Lauterbur's initial work another step further, developing a mathematical process to speed the image reading.
Lauterbur attempted to file patents related to his work to commercialize it unsuccessfully. Stony Brook chose not to pursue patents, thinking that the expense would not pay off in the end. "The company that was in charge of such applications decided that it would not repay the expense of getting a patent. That turned out not to be a spectacularly good decision," Lauterbur said in 2003. He attempted to get the federal government to pay for an early prototype of the MRI machine for years in the 1970s, and the process took a decade. The University of Nottingham did file patents which later made Mansfield wealthy.
Nobel Prize
Lauterbur was awarded the Nobel Prize along with Mansfield in the fall of 2003. Controversy occurred when Raymond Damadian took out full-page ads in The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
and The Los Angeles Times headlined "The Shameful Wrong That Must Be Righted" saying that the Nobel committee had not included him as a Prize winner alongside Lauterbur and Mansfield for his early work on the MRI. Damadian claimed that he discovered MRI and the two Nobel-winning scientists refined his technology. The New York Times published an editorial saying that while scientists credit Damadian for holding an early patent in MRI technology, Lauterbur and Mansfield expanded upon Herman Carr
Herman Carr
Herman Y. Carr was an American physicist and pioneer of magnetic resonance imaging.Carr was born in Alliance, Ohio. He received his BS, MS and PHD from Harvard University, where he studied under Edward Purcell. He later moved to Rutgers University, where he was professor. He retired in 1987.In...
's technique in order to produce first 2D and then 3D MR images. The editorial deems this to be worthy of a Nobel prize even though it states clearly in Alfred Nobel's will that prizes are not to be given out solely on the basis of improving an existing technology for commercial use. The newspaper then points out a few cases in which precursor discoveries had been awarded with a Nobel, along with a few deserving cases in which it had not, such as Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Elsie Franklin was a British biophysicist and X-ray crystallographer who made critical contributions to the understanding of the fine molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal and graphite...
and Oswald Avery
Oswald Avery
Oswald Theodore Avery ForMemRS was a Canadian-born American physician and medical researcher. The major part of his career was spent at the Rockefeller University Hospital in New York City...
.
Death
Lauterbur died in March 2007 of kidneyKidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
disease at his home in Urbana, Illinois
Urbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
. University of Illinois Chancellor Richard Herman
Richard Herman
Richard H. Herman served as the Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2005-2009. He previously served there as Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs since 1998. While at the university he promoted excellence and diversity across the breadth of academic programs...
said, "Paul's influence is felt around the world every day, every time an MRI saves the life of a daughter or a son, a mother or a father."
Other awards and honors
- Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical ResearchAlbert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical ResearchLasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award is awarded by the Lasker Foundation for the understanding, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and cure of disease. The award was renamed in 2008 in honor of Michael E. DeBakey...
, 1984 - General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Kettering PrizeKettering PrizeThe Kettering Prize was given for the most outstanding recent contribution to the diagnosis or treatment of cancer.This award was named in honor of Charles F. Kettering, inventor, former General Motors Director, and pioneer of the General Motors Research Laboratories.Past winners are:*2005 Angela...
, 1985 - The Harvey PrizeHarvey PrizeThe Harvey Prize is awarded by the Technion in Haifa, Israel. It is awarded in different disciplines of Science, Technology, Human Health, and Contributions to Peace in the Middle East. Two awards - each of $75,000 - are given away annually...
, 1986 - National Medal of ScienceNational Medal of ScienceThe National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
, 1987 - National Medal of TechnologyNational Medal of TechnologyThe National Medal of Technology and Innovation is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology...
, 1988, (with Raymond Damadian) - Bower Award, Franklin InstituteFranklin InstituteThe Franklin Institute is a museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the oldest centers of science education and development in the United States, dating to 1824. The Institute also houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.-History:On February 5, 1824, Samuel Vaughn Merrick and...
of Philadelphia, 1990 (first recipient) - Carnegie Mellon Dickson Prize in Science in 1993.
- NAS Award for Chemistry in Service to SocietyNAS Award for Chemistry in Service to SocietyThe NAS Award for Chemistry in Service to Society is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for contributions to chemistry, either in fundamental science or its application, that clearly satisfy a societal need." It has been awarded every two years since its inception in 1991.- List of...
of the National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, 2001 - Charter member, Phi Kappa TauPhi Kappa TauPhi Kappa Tau is a U.S. national collegiate fraternity.-History:Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity was founded in the Union Literary Society Hall of Miami University's Old Main Building in Oxford, Ohio on March 17, 1906...
Hall of Fame in 2006. - National Inventors Hall of FameNational Inventors Hall of FameThe National Inventors Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recognizing, honoring and encouraging invention and creativity through the administration of its programs. The Hall of Fame honors the men and women responsible for the great technological advances that make human,...
, class of 2007
Honorary Degrees:
- Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh
- University of LiègeUniversity of LiègeThe University of Liège , in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium, is a major public university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language is French.-History:...
in Belgium - Nicolaus Copernicus University Medical School in Kraków, Poland