1975, and was senior researcher (and after his retirement in 1984, consultant) to the laboratories. While on an outing in the country, Hounsfield came up with the idea that one could determine what was inside a box by taking X-ray readings at all angles around the object. He then set to work constructing a computer that could take input from X-rays at various angles to create an image of the object in "slices". Applying this idea to the medical field led him to propose what is now known as computed tomography. At the time, Hounsfield was not aware of the work that Cormack had done on the theoretical mathematics for such a device. Hounsfield built a prototype head scanner and tested it first on a preserved human brain, then on a fresh cow brain from a butcher’s shop, 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 Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. In 1975, Hounsfield built a whole-body scanner. The principles of computed tomography developed by Hounsfield remain in use today (2022). Awards and honours In 1979, Hounsfield and Cormack received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Hounsfield received numerous awards in addition to the Nobel Prize. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1976 and knighted in 1981. In 1974, he received the Wilhelm Exner Medal. Hounsfield was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1975. In 1976, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. He was awarded the Howard N. Potts Medal in 1977. Personal life and death Hounsfield enjoyed hiking and skiing. He had resolved to develop what came to be CT scanning while on a country ramble. He retired from EMI in 1986 and used the prize money from his Nobel to build a personal laboratory in his home. Hounsfield died at Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, in 2004, at the age of 84. References External links 1919 births 2004 deaths English electrical engineers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British electronics engineers English biophysicists English Nobel laureates Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Bachelor Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine People educated at Magnus Church of England School People from Sutton-on-Trent Royal Air Force personnel of World War II X-ray computed tomography Howard N.