Michel Ter-Pogossian

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Michel Matthew Ter-Pogossian (April 21, 1925Template:Spaced ndashJune 19, 1996) was an American medical physicist.[1] He was professor of radiology at the Washington University School of Medicine for over 30 years. A pioneer in nuclear medicine,[2] he is best known for his research on the positron emission tomography (PET). He is considered one of its creators and often referred to as the "father of PET."[3][4]

Early life

Ter-Pogossian was born on April 21, 1925, in Berlin to Armenian parents from the Ottoman Empire who escaped the Armenian genocide.[5][6] He was the only child.[7] His family later moved to France, where Ter-Pogossian grew up.[7][5] He developed an early interest in science and experimented with toy physics and chemistry kits as a child.[7][6][5] Ter-Pogossian attended the University of Paris, from which he received his bachelor's degree in mathematics[8] in 1942[1][5][6] or 1943.[9][7] He subsequently studied at the Institute of Radium under Irène Joliot-Curie, graduating in 1946.[1][7][9] He was active in the French Resistance during World War II.[5][6]

Career

Ter-Pogossian moved to the United States in 1946 to complete his studies.[7][6] He preferred the U.S. over Britain because the former seemed "more exciting."[5][6] He enrolled at Washington University in St. Louis as a graduate student in 1946.[9] He was drawn to the university by and studied under Arthur Compton, who was also the university's chancellor at the time.[1][7] He simultaneously worked in the physics department as a research assistant.[9][7] Ter-Pogossian received his master's degree in 1948,[7] and his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from WashU in 1950.[9][1]

He joined the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at WashU in 1950.[9][7][10] In the same year he also joined the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine as an instructor in radiation physics.[5][11] He was named professor of radiation physics in 1961, professor of biophysics in physiology in 1964, and professor of radiation sciences in 1973.[11][5]

Between 1963 and 1991 Ter-Pogossian served as director of the division of radiation sciences at the Mallinckrodt Institute.[11][5][6]Template:Efn After resigning from administrative duties in 1990, Ter-Pogossian devoted all his time to research.[5] He was a self-proclaimed "research junkie".[9][6] He became emeritus professor in 1995.[11][5][7]

Work

Ter-Pogossian spent his entire professional career at Washington University's Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology.[1] His research focused on "increasing the number of practical clinical applications of cerebral scanning."[10] His work resulted in improvement of medical imaging, radiation therapy, and brachytherapy. He developed a new type of nuclear medicine gamma camera, known as the "Ter-Pogossian camera."[9][1]

In 1951 Ter-Pogossian developed a pioneering scanner that detected radioactivity concentrations in living material.[8][6] In the mid-1950s he "reported the first biomedical application of a sodium iodide detector for the diagnosis and localization of intracranial tumors."[8]

Positron emission tomography (PET)

Ter-Pogossian was a pioneer in the use of cyclotron-produced radioactive tracers.[5] He is best known for his work on the positron emission tomography (PET). His research began in the 1950s with a series of experiments that made PET a "practical diagnostic tool"[1] by the 1970s.[8][6]

His early work led to the installation of a small biomedical cyclotron in the basement at the Washington University Medical Center in 1963.[8] He persuaded several government agencies to support the research.[1] It was the first cyclotron in the U.S. located in a medical center.[8] The cyclotron produced short-lived, positron-emitting radionuclides intended to be used to develop techniques for measuring regional cerebral blood flow, oxygen metabolism, blood volume, and glucose metabolism.[8] The first PET unit was created in 1974 by the group led by Ter-Pogossian.[8] A decade later, PET units of that design were "used in many medical centers throughout the world."[8]

Ter-Pogossian is recognized to have "led the research that turned the positron emission tomography (PET) scanner from an intriguing concept to a medical tool used in hospitals and laboratories everywhere."[6] With Edward J. Hoffman and Michael E. Phelps "he played a major role turning positron imaging from a laboratory concept into practical imaging protocols and devices that are currently used worldwide."[5]

Personal life and death

Ter-Pogossian married visual artist Ann Dodson (née Scott), of St. Louis, in 1966.[12] Ann (1932–2022)[12] had a master's degree in Egyptology and participated in exhibitions from 1973 to 2003, including the prestigious Florence Biennale.[13] After her marriage to Michel, she signed her work and exhibited under the name Ann Ter-Pogossian. Ann had two sons and a daughter by her first marriage.[12][1][6] The Ter-Pogossians were residents of Clayton, Missouri.[14]

Ter-Pogossian was described by Ronald G. Evens as a "citizen of the world."[1] He traveled extensively and was a gourmet and a scuba diver.[9] He died on June 19, 1996, of apparent myocardial infarction in Paris, while on a vacation.[6][9][1][5]

Recognition

Ter-Pogossian was an "internationally known pioneer in the use of cyclotron-produced radionuclides in biomedical research."[9] Frans Wackers noted that he is "widely recognized as one of the fathers of PET imaging."[5] He has been called "the father of PET" by some.[3][1][9][7] Ter-Pogossian emphasized that PET is the product of teamwork and elaborated:[15]

...when somebody referred to me as the father of PET, I said, "I'd rather be the mother of PET, because many offspring have many fathers, and only one mother. As a matter of fact, some offspring have no father at all!" Of course there are many fathers. [...] [it's obvious that] there are masses of fathers of PET. Again, the important point is—I'm not suggesting that to you; it is probably obvious—is again the convergence of so many different disciplines. The development of the scintillation counter, artificial radioactivity, and so on.

Awards

Membership

Ter-Pogossian was a member of many professional societies: charter member of the American Nuclear Society, fellow of the American Physical Society,[7] honorary fellow of the American College of Radiology,[8] Institute of Medicine (elected in 1987).[7]

He was a trustee of the Academy of Science, St. Louis and served as an adviser to several Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration committees.[8][9][7] He served on the editorial boards of several journals, including the American Journal of Roentgenology, the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, and the Journal de Biophysique & Médecine Nucléaire.[7][9] He was the first editor of the IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.[11]

References

Notes

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Citations

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