The Development of Radiology among Slovenes

Abstract

Few discoveries in the history of science brought such significant progress as did the discovery of X-rays by the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in 1895. The finding did not only bring a revolution to the field of medicine but also to many other technical branches. With technological progress in the 20^th century, medical roentgenology swiftly developed. The first significant step forward was the introduction of contrast media followed by others including computerised image data management and digital techniques. Medical diagnostics embraced other imaging methods based on other types of energy such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging.

The beginnings of roentgenology in the Slovene Lands go back to the year 1900. Bone fractures were the first to be imaged, followed by thoracic imaging and contrast imaging of the gastrointestinal tract. The use of roentgenology spread significantly after World War I, with the implementation in the following years of X-ray machines in all Slovenian hospitals, some spas and sanatoria. Gradually the need for an independent scientific institution emerged, which led to the establishment of the Roentgenological Institute for Slovenia and Istria in Ljubljana in 1923. At the same time radiology was developing also by other Slovenian hospitals.

In the 1950s, Slovenian roentgenology increasingly stayed in touch with contemporary international development, updated its equipment and introduced new methods. The modern concept of centralised radiological management, comparable with that of modern European institutions, was realised in Ljubljana in 1973 after the relocation of the Radiological Institute to the new facilities at the Ljubljana University Medical Centre. The first computer tomography machine was installed in 1980, the first ultrasound machine was acquired in 1981, the first digital subtraction angiography (DSA) machine was introduced in 1986 and the first magnetic resonance machine was installed in 1993. The Clinical Radiology Institute, Ljubljana University Medical Centre, performs ambulatory and hospital radiological management at the secondary and tertiary levels for patients from the region of Ljubljana and from the rest of the country. A sophisticated radiology is also at the University Medical Centre Maribor.

In the first decade of the 21^st century radiology developed particularly quickly, bringing recent developments in international radiology to Slovenia, especially in the field of interventional radiology.