Referent: Prof. Dr. Christina Brandt (Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät)

How do simple X-rays produce three-dimensional images of the inside of our bodies? The invention of computed tomography (CT) in the 1960s revolutionised medicine, but its real driving force is mathematics. This lecture explores how CT works and shows how mathematicians make the hidden visible – or rather, how they calculate the images from the measurement data. We’ll get to the bottom of how the CT scanner captures the raw data from bones and organs and converts this into sharp images using filtered backprojection. Surprisingly, this reconstruction method was developed as early as 1912 by the mathematician Johann Radon. We will test how this mathematical reconstruction works in practice together through an interactive quiz. Finally, we will take a look at current research, where modern algorithms are being used to further improve medical imaging.

Since 2004, as part of the ‘University at the Town Hall’ lecture series, academics from the University of Greifswald have been presenting their research projects in the Town Hall’s Citizens’ Hall. The aim of the lecture series is to give the general public an insight into the wide-ranging research carried out across the university’s five faculties. Admission is free.