Ronald Grainger, who has died aged 91, played a major role in transforming radiology from a limited discipline, based largely on radiography (X-rays), into a vast and indispensable speciality at the heart of all medical clinical management. Over the past three decades, the changes in medicine brought about by computer technology have had their greatest impact in radiological diagnostic and innovative therapeutic techniques. Now we are able to obtain, store and transmit images electronically, and to use cross-sectional scanning techniques such as ultrasound, computed tomography (which produces images of virtual "slices" of areas of the body) and magnetic resonance imaging (commonly known as MRI scanning).
The old core techniques have been improved in terms of safety and efficacy beyond recognition. A whole new discipline of interventional radiology has replaced or enhanced areas of surgery, with techniques such as angioplasty and biopsy conducted under imaging control without the need for surgical incision and usually under local rather than general anaesthesia.
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