X-ray Contrast Agent Technology: A Revolutionary History

This book documents the fascinating history of radiological techniques that use contrast agents. The text includes many of the fundamental documentary sources that bring to life the social and scientific background of the discoveries, the personalities of the discoverers, and implementation of new technologies. Such agents when used with X-rays allow clinicians to distinguish anatomical structures with nearly identical densities. Focus is on urological and angiographic uses of contrast agents.

Key selling features:

• Documents and thoroughly references the history of contrast agent development
• Reviews the priority and importance of patents
• Discusses the role that important individual scientists and leading research institutions have played in technology development and implementation

Christoph de Haën, born September 9, 1940 in Switzerland, studied chemistry and

biology in Lausanne, Zurich, and Rome, earning a master’s degree in chemistry

from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), followed by a PhD

in molecular biology at the same institution. After a postdoctoral fellowship in biochemistry

at the University of Washington, Seattle, he became research faculty at

the same institution, jointly appointed in the Departments of Medicine (Division of

Endocrinology and Metabolism) and Biochemistry. There he moved up the ranks to

Research Full Professor and Graduate Faculty. In mid-career he joined the Bracco

company, a worldwide active pharmaceutical corporation, headquartered in Milan,

Italy. There he held various leadership positions in global research and development,

including Head of the Milano Research Center and Scientific Advisor to the Bracco

Group of Companies. The principle field of activity was contrast agents for various

diagnostic imaging modalities. His publications span a wide variety of fields, including

social science ones. He retired in 2005 and lives in Switzerland.