An historical look at ultrasound as an Australian innovation on the occasion of the ultrasound stamp issued by Australia Post – 18 May 2004

18 May 2004 – Australia Post issued stamps recognising five Australian Innovations, and featured these innovations to illustrate and celebrate the spirit and culture of Australian innovation1. This stamp issue suggests that, while ‘they may not be Australia’s best known innovations, they are now part of everyday life, not just in Australia, but around the world’. One of the five, ‘Ultrasound Imaging 1976’, recognised that ‘George Kossoff and colleagues at the Ultrasonics Institute (then part of the Commonwealth Health Department, later transferred to the CSIRO) pioneered the use of ultrasound in medical diagnosis. They made a technical breakthrough called ‘grey scale ultrasound’, which enabled them to produce images of much greater clarity and detail. It was an important step leading to the widespread adoption of ultrasound throughout the world’. The aim of this article is to provide a brief outline of that period, including presentation of some historical images. The Ultrasonics Institute and its precursor, the Ultrasonics Research Section of the National Acoustics Laboratory, played an internationally recognised role in the development of medical uses of ultrasound. The Institute commenced in 1959, with George Kossoff as director and Dr William Garrett, obstetrician – Royal Hospital for Women, Paddington, Sydney, providing clinical advice. Its objectives were to conduct research in medical ultrasound to create a centre of technical expertise in the field and also to set up joint research programs with suitable organisations for the clinical evaluation of newly developed techniques. Within 10 years of its formation, the Institute had established dialogue with other medical fields in Sydney (1960 – Dr Herbert L Hughes, ophthalmologist, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown; 1964 – Prof Thomas S Reeve, surgeon, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards; Prof Dennis E Wilken, cardiologist, Prince Henry Hospital, Little Bay). It was unique in its field in several respects: Projects were initiated by a nucleus of engineers and physicists rather than clinicians. Despite the emphasis on clinical evaluation, technical advances were the heart of the Institute’s work. It enjoyed a stability of scientific and technical staff throughout its history. This group of technical experts had close working collaborations with a variety of medical specialists with a complementary research interest who had clinical appointments at teaching hospitals in Sydney. By 1969, the basic considerations of grey scale scanning were formulated, and all the echoscopes were modified to operate in this mode. Grey scale imaging was introduced into the abdominal An historical look at ultrasound as an Australian innovation on the occasion of the ultrasound stamp issued by Australia Post – 18 May 2004