Reflections on the early years of nuclear medicine

In the early years of nuclear medicine, physicians explored applied nuclear physics and physicists pursued uncharted areas in medicine. Reflections fr om Jim Adelstein, MD, PhD, John McAfee, MD, Henry Wagner, MD, Fred Bonte, M D, Dave Kuhl, MD, and Alex Gottschalk, MD, add to the appreciation of the d iversity in those early years. These reflections may serve many purposes. F or some, they may provoke nostalgia for the better life gone by. For others , reflections may create an awareness of the people and the process of what it took to be where we are today. For still others, this may provide some impetus to better understand the origins of modern imaging technologies and their diffusion. Which techniques in use today will be in use 30 years fro m now? Why will some survive and others go by the wayside? From research in to the process of technology transfer and diffusion, can we learn to put ou r efforts today where they will have the greatest benefits to human beings some 30 years from now? How can we maximize the present value of our effort s to improve diagnostic imaging? Reflections from the past may help.