Kurt Rossmann, Ph.D. (1926–1976): pioneer in image quality evaluation and radiologic imaging research

Abstract

Professor Kurt Rossmann (Fig. 1) was born on 20th March 1927, in Berlin, Germany. During World War II, he was a student who was sent to the Russian battlefield as a soldier, and was injured. He was in a hospital when the war ended. After the war, he moved to the United States with his parents, and continued his education. He received a B.S. degree in Mathematics from the University of Dayton in 1951, and his Ph.D. degree in Physics from Ohio State University in 1958. Professor Rossmann was one of the world’s leading authorities on the physics of radiographic imaging systems in the 1960s and 1970s; he laid the foundation of imaging science in the field of radiologic imaging [1–11]. From 1958 to 1967, he was associated with the Research Laboratories, Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York, serving as chairman of the Radiography Long-Range Planning Committee and as assistant head of the Radiography Laboratory from 1965 to 1967. In July 1967, Dr. Rossmann joined the faculty of the University of Chicago as Professor and Director of the Section of Radiological Sciences in the Department of Radiology. During his tenure at the University of Chicago, he organized and led the Center for Radiologic Image Research from 1972 to 1976, which was funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the National Institute of Health. Kurt Rossmann published extensively; he was the author or co-author of more than 90 scientific papers and chapters in textbooks. He served on numerous national and international commissions and committees, and he was a member of the Editorial Board of Investigative Radiology and of the Advisory Editorial Board of Radiology. When Dr. Rossmann started his work in the Radiography Laboratory at Kodak in 1959, there were no mathematical or scientific tools applied to studies on radiographic images. The majority of medical images in radiology were radiographs made with the use of screen-film systems. The quality of radiographic images was known empirically to be related primarily to contrast, image sharpness, and noise. A variety of test objects such as wire mesh and holes were used for subjective evaluation of image quality. The concept of image quality was vague and difficult to subject to quantitative measurements. Kurt Rossmann introduced and demonstrated a number of fundamental concepts for image analysis tools in radiographic images, namely the modulation transfer function (MTF), the line spread function (LSF), the point spread function, the convolution integral, the noise Wiener spectrum, and quantum mottle, as described in detail in his publications [1–8]. Dr. Rossmann devoted the major part of his scientific life to studies of the physical factors affecting radiographic image quality. His application of basic scientific principles and observations had a direct impact on the clinical practice of radiology in his lifetime, and his work continued to have an important influence on the specialty for many years. Kurt Rossmann was a pioneer in modern imaging science in radiology. At the University of Chicago, Professor Rossmann built an X-ray sensitometer (Fig. 2), which was the first unit of its kind in academic institutions in the world, for measurements of Hurter and Driffield (H&D) curves of screen-film systems. H&D curves were used for many different purposes, such as evaluation of radiographic image contrast and quantification of radiographic images. For measurements of the MTF, he built a K. Doi (&) Emeritus Professor, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA e-mail: k-doi@uchicago.edu