kids encyclopedia robot

Peter Wells (medical physicist) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Peter Wells
Peter Wells (medical physicist).gif
Born
Peter Neil Temple Wells

(1936-05-19)19 May 1936
Bristol, England
Died 22 April 2017(2017-04-22) (aged 80)
Education Aston University
Occupation Academic researcher
Known for Ultrasound
Awards
  • Duddell Medal and Prize (2006)
  • FREng (2004)
  • FMedSci
  • Royal Medal (2013)
  • FRS (2003)
Scientific career
Fields Electrical engineering
Medical physics
Institutions

Peter Neil Temple Wells was a brilliant British scientist. He was a medical physicist who helped doctors use ultrasound technology in amazing new ways. He was born in Bristol, England, on May 19, 1936, and passed away on April 22, 2017.

Education and Early Life

Peter Wells studied at the Birmingham College of Advanced Technology. He also went to the University of Bristol. There, he earned his PhD in 1966. A PhD is a very high university degree. It shows someone is an expert in their field.

Making Medical Tools Better

Peter Wells made many important changes to how engineering and physics are used in medicine. He created and improved tools for ultrasound surgery. He also developed ways to measure ultrasonic power.

Scanners for Doctors

He invented a special two-dimensional scanner. This scanner had an arm that could move around. It helped doctors look inside the body. He also made a special breast scanner that used water. This made it easier to get clear images.

Discoveries with Ultrasound

Peter Wells showed how to use ultrasonic-pulsed Doppler range gating. This is a way to see how things move inside the body. He also found a special ultrasonic signal. This signal could help doctors find tumors that were growing new blood vessels.

He also studied how ultrasound affects the body. He helped create rules for how to use ultrasound safely. These rules make sure that using ultrasound for diagnosis is always a good idea.

New Ways to See Inside the Body

Wells led many studies on how to use ultrasound for diagnosis. He also helped improve other ways of seeing inside the body. These included light transmission, electrical impedance, and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. He even thought of a new way to think about medical imaging.

Later in his career, he worked on new types of ultrasonic Doppler and phase-insensitive tomography. These are advanced ways to create detailed images of the body.

Awards and Special Honors

Peter Wells received many awards for his important work. These awards show how much his contributions helped science and medicine.

  • 1983: He became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
  • 2003: He became a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists.
  • 2006: He won the Duddell Medal and Prize.
  • 2009: He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). This is a special award from the British government.
  • He was a founding member of the Learned Society of Wales.
  • 2013: He received the Royal Medal from the Royal Society.
  • 2014: He was awarded the Sir Frank Whittle Medal.
kids search engine
Peter Wells (medical physicist) Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.