Hellmuth Hertz were intrigued by the idea of using ultrasound technology to achieve more precise heart diagnoses. In 1953, they became the first to use the ultrasound technique for echocardiography. Today, this powerful ultrasound process is a standard component of all cardiovascular examinations. In 1958, Elema-Schönander AB (subsequently Siemens-Elema AB) developed the first cardiac pacemaker implanted in a critically ill heart patient by surgeon Åke Senning. Siemens engineer Ralph Soldner developed the world's first "real-time" ultrasound unit, the Vidoson, in the 1960s. With this technology, technicians could view movements inside the body on a screen right while they were taking place, a feature that became especially important in obstetrics and pediatrics. The company released its first computed tomography scanner, the Siretom, in 1975, a year after it exhibited its first tomographic image of a human head at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago. A typical examination took less than six minutes. The skull is scanned from various directions by an X-ray tube and a detector unit, and an image of absorption distribution in the brain is generated in the computer. The first magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, Siemens' MAGNETOM system, came to the market in 1983. With the aid of powerful magnetic fields, MRI scanners produce high-quality cross-sectional images without exposing patients to ionizing radiation. In 1998, Siemens introduced the first track-based laboratory automation system, the ADVIA LabCell Automation Solution, allowing for increased efficiency and reduced costs. Siemens imaging devices use the syngo image processing software developed by the company in 1999. The software provides a single user interface for a large number of imaging systems, integrating patient-specific physiological and imaging data into clinical workflows. 21st century Siemens was the first to combine positron emission tomography (PET) with computed tomography (CT). By creating this hybrid imaging system, Siemens combined the PET scanner's ability to visualize biological processes of life with a CT system's anatomical image of tissues and organs. In doing so, the combination system allows a simultaneous display of anatomy and biological function. Time magazine named the Siemens Biograph, the world's first commercial PET-CT scanner, the "Innovation of the Year" in 2000. In a similar fashion, Siemens launched the Biograph mMR in 2010, the first scanner to completely combine MRI and PET technologies. Like PET-CT, PET-MR hybrid systems combine multiple technologies to provide a better image of the body, enabling for better diagnoses,