Public Perspectives of Medical Imaging

Before the advent of medical imaging techniques, the skeleton was seen only in death. Bones therefore were undoubtedly a sign of death (McGrath, 2002, p. 111). When Roentgen radiographed his wife Bertha's hand, seeing the image of her own bones meant seeing a premonition of death (Dewing, 1962, p. 29). Early in 1896, a London reporter published a piece commenting on the indecency of looking at other people's bones, suggesting all radiographs should be burned (Kelves, 1997, p. 116). Looking through someones flesh meant predicting or even foreshadowing one's death. (Van Dijck, 2005, p. 94).

In the 80's Philip Niachros commissioned Andy Warhol to paint his portrait. Niachros, being Warhol's friend, likely knew that he wouldn't simply paint a picture. Warhol produced a set of silkscreen images made from the CT images of the Niachros' skull. Warhol's images present a strong contrast to the conservative portrait; an opaque facade of the individual being depicted. The CT images are produced through an "objective" technique, thus exposing a higher degree of "truth". The theme of the skull in this image propagates the historical association of skeletons and death. Warhol's portrait reminds the subject that they too, will die. By this time, medical images were beginning to be more prevalent in the media. The images were becoming closer to common in the public eye.

Andy Warhol, Philip's Skull, 1985 (Gagosian Gallery, 1999).

The perception of our interiors are shaped by many factors including medicine and media (Van Dijck, 2005, p.138). It is the technology in medicine that produces the images of our inner anatomies, but media delivers and construes these images. In the early days, newspapers published the shocking images of a hand radiograph. The manner in which the images were described connoted death. The public has been increasingly exposed to medical images to the extent that they are no longer surprising. Medical images are very much a part of mass media.

Take, for example, the case of 2-year old Lakshmi Tatma's sugery removing her conjoined twin. Daily Mail Online as well as many other newspapers published radiographs and CT reconstructions of the girl before and after surgery (Daily Mail Online, 2007). Medical images are used in the media as scientific proof.

Lakshmi Tatma. (Daily Mail Online, 2007)

The way we view medical images is influenced by popular culture, the medical system, personal experience, and political economy (Dumit, 2004). Are medical images still a premonition of death or has the meaning shifted to a sense of progress towards better health?

Daily Mail Online. (2007). First pictures reveal success of life-saving surgery on toddler with eight limbs. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-491757/First-pictures-reveal-success-life-saving-surgery-toddler-limbs.html

Dewing, S. B. (1962). Modern Radiology in Historical Perspective. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas Publisher

Dumit. J. (2004). Picturing personhood: Brain scans and biomedical identity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Gagosian Gallery. (1999). Andy Warhol: Philip's skull. Retrieved from http://i1.exhibit-e.com/gagosian/2cf9ac98.pdf

Kelves, B. (1997). Naked to the Bone: Medical Imaging in the Twentieth Century. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

McGrath, R. (2002). Seeing her sex: Medical archives and the female body. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.