History of Polish Radiology

By Stanisław Leszczyński and Andrzej Urbanik
(Based on "The history of Polish radiology against the background of the world radiology", published by Medycyna Praktyczna, Kraków 2000)

The beginings of Radiology in Poland - 19th Century

At the time Roentgen made his historic discovery Poland had not existed as a state (since the end of the XVIII century), divided among the neighbouring Austria, Russia and Prussia. The following cities were the main academic centres: in the Russian partition - Warszawa and Vilnius, in the Prussian partition - Poznań, whereas in the Austrian one - Kraków (where the Jagiellonian University had incessantly functioned since it was founded in 1364) and Lvov. The Poles, although deprived of their own state institutions, retained their language, religion and national tradition. Despite the partitions, Polish art, literature, music as well as science and economic life flourished. The Poles would take any opportunity of regaining independence. They engaged in the Napoleonic wars or organised insurrections themselves. Thanks to their determination and taking advantage of the political situation Poland regained independence towards the end of World War I in 1918.

 

 

 
The first news about Konrad Wilhelm Roentgen's great discovery was published by Kraków-based "Czas" as early as January 8, 1896; the information from Vienna-based 'Presse' of January 5, 1896 was quoted. In a short note the methods of obtaining the X-rays and their hypothetical applications were presented. It also stated that "the problem, although it seems an All Fools' Day joke, is seriously considered in serious circles".
 

The first Polish report about Roentgen’s discovery
"Czas", January 8, 1896 (Kraków)

Shortly after that many articles on that subject matter appeared in the Polish press, both in dailies and weeklies and scientific magazines. On January 1896 Roentgen's first report was translated into Polish by Dr Stanisław Srebrny and published as a booklet. It also contained information about the X-ray pictures taken by Prof. W. Biernacki on January 25. Srebrny also mentioned Prof. Franciszek Dobrzyński's experiments, who on July 9, 1890 in Lvov found that "electromagnetic waves obtained using Hertz's method permeate wood despite the fact that it is an insulator"; he realised that "the waves have the effect on a photosensitive plate as the normal light does; the exposition, however, took about 3 hours". Srebrny goes on to say that "Dobrzyński presented his findings at the meeting of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Vienna and published them in the minutes entitled Ueber die photographische Wirkung der elektromagnetischen Wellen; his work was also published in English in 1891 in Philosophical Magazine (Vol. 31, page 75)".

 
     

D-r Wilhelm Konrad Röntgen. Profesor zwyczajny Uniwersytetu w Würzburgu: O Nowym Rodzaju Promieni. Z oryginału przełożył, wstępem opatrzył S. Srebrny. Warszawa. Nakładem Księgarni Paprockiego i S-ki. 1896 Styczeń.

Dr Wilhelm Konrad Röntgen. A professor of the Würzburg University. A New Type of Irradiation. Translated and commented by S. Srebrny. Warsaw. Published by Paprocki and co. January 1896

  
Polish translation of Roentgen's report (January 30, 1896 - Warszawa)


 


Professor Karol Olszewski (1846-1915)


 
The first Polish X-ray picture
(January 8-15, 1896 - Kraków)

 
Soon first experiments with X-rays were started. In Kraków between January 8 and 15, 1896 the professor of chemistry (the Jagiellonian University) Karol Olszewski (the man who was the first one, along with W. Wróblewski, to liquefy air) took various experimental pictures using a Plücker tube (Olszewski’s X-ray unit is in Jagiellonian University Museum), including that of a bronze lizard-shaped paper weight (the first Polish X-ray picture) and that of a human hand. Those pictures were found in the Jagiellonian University Archives, Kraków. The information about those experiments was published by "Czas" on January 21, 1896.
 

The first Polish device
generating X-rays
(January, 1896 - Kraków)

The first Polish X-ray
picture of a living organism
(January 8-15,
1896 - Kraków)

Report of Olszewski's experiments
(January 21, 1896 - Kraków)

 

Adam Władysław
Rzewuski (1861-1943)

  
At the same time, in the first half of January 1896 in Davos, Switzerland, successful X-ray images were obtained by a Pole Adam Władysław Alexander Rzewuski. He left Silesia in Poland for Davos (1879) to be treated there for severe asthma. Having been successfully cured he was able to go mountaineering and organise a mountain climbing club. In 1895 he was awarded a gold medal for his pictures of the Alps. While in Davos, he was mainly engaged in research in physics, chemistry and botany. After Roentgen announced his discovery of X-rays, he managed, as early as the first half of January 1896, to produce the first X-ray images in Switzerland. Soon, he converted his photo laboratory into a radiological laboratory and then an Institute of Radiology. He organised X-ray laboratories in other places in Switzerland as well as the first training courses. Towards the end of his professional career he was made an honorary member of the Medical Society in Davos and honorary citizen of Davos. He is a forgotten pioneer of radiology.
Rzewuski A. Chemische Wirkung der X-Strahlen. Naturwiss Rdsch 1896; 11:419-420
Ferdmann J: Alexander Rzewuski als Pionier der Rontgenologie in der Schweiz, Davoser Revue, 1943;3
Leszczyński S., Borkowski T: Alexander Rzewuski (1861-1943): the forgotten pioneer of Radiology.Eur Radiol 2002; 12:2826-2827
 

The first Polish X-ray picture
out of clinical indication
(February, 1896 - Kraków)

Professor Karol Olszewski and his assistant Dr Tadeusz Estreicher took the first Polish X-ray picture out of clinical indications (in a patient referred by the surgeon professor Alfred Obaliński). On the basis of that picture elbow joint dislocation was diagnosed. On February 11, 1896 "Czas" reported that fact and on the same day professor Olszewski discussed his experience with X-rays at the meeting of the Naturalist Society (Towarzystwo Przyrodników) in Kraków.
Estreicher T.: Promienie Röntgena. Doświadczenie krakowskie (Röntgen's rays. The Kraków Experience) Tygodnik Ilustrowany 1896, 8, of February 22

 

Dr Tomasz Drobnik
(1858-1901)

  
At the same time similar tests were carried out be the surgeon Dr Tomasz Drobnik in the laboratory of The Berger Gimnazjum Realne (a secondary school), Poznań with the assistance of the professor of physics Dr Karger. T. Drobnik presented his experiment at the meeting of Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk (The Society of Science Lovers) on February 7, 1896. Unfortunately, no radiological documentation (pictures) from that period has been preserved.
Drobnik T.: O zastosowaniu X-promieni Röntgena w chirurgii. (On the use of Röntgen's X-rays in Surgery). Nowiny Lekarskie (Medical News) 1896; VIII: 135
  On January 31, 1896 in Lvov, at the meeting of the Lvov Medical Society, professor Jan Zakrzewski delivered a lecture on Roentgen rays. It is worth noting that intensive experiments with the use of Crookes' tube were carried out in Lvov by the physicist Czesław Badaszewski. He presented the results of his experiments to the medical circle at the meeting on March 4, 1882.
Badaszewski Cz.: Wiliam Crookes, wynalazca radiometru, czyli młynka który w rozrzedzonych gazach wiruje pod wpływem promieni światła i ciepła (William Crookes, the inventor of radiometer, or a mill that whirls in rarefied gas under the influence of light and heat). Przegląd Lekarski (Medical Review), 1882; 28: 385-386, Sprawozdanie z posiedzenia Towarzystwa Lekarskiego Galicyjskiego (The minutes of the meeting of the Galicia Medical Society)
 

Professor Wiktor Biernacki (1869-1918)

On February 18, 1896 the well-known physicist from Warszawa, Prof. Wiktor Biernacki, delivered a lecture on X-rays at the meeting of the Warsaw Medical Society illustrated with his own radiological pictures taken on January 25, 1896. Biernacki W: Fotografie otrzymane za pomocą promieni Roentgena. Pamiętniki Towarzystwa Lekarskiego Warszawskiego (Pictures taken with the use of roentgen rays). Pamiętniki Towarzystwa Lekarskiego Warszawskiego (Memoirs of the Warsaw Medical Society). 1896; 1: 255 (of 18.02.1896).
Drawing from his own experiments, Biernacki suggested the use of apertures in the roentgen device.
Biernacki W: Kilka uwag praktycznych o fotografii za pomocą promieni Roentgena (Some practical remarks on the photography using roentgen rays). Wszechświat (Universum), 1896; 11: 161-166

 

The first Polish article on X-rays
in a medical magazine
(February 22, 1896 - Kraków)
 

 
The first scientific article on X-rays ("On the use of roentgen rays for diagnostic purposes") in a medical magazine was published in Kraków by the surgeon Prof. Alfred Obaliński. The first radiological examination for clinical purposes (an X-ray picture of the elbow) was carried out in Kraków by Prof. Olszewski at the request of surgeons.
Obaliński A.: O zużytkowaniu promieni Röntgena w celach dyagnostycznych (On the use of roentgen rays for diagnostic purposes). Przegląd Lekarski (Medical Review), 1896; 8: 93-94; of February 22

Monograph "Dark light rays, especially roentgen rays in theory in practice"
by Zygmunt Korosteński

 Altogether, in 1896 15 publications appeared in the Polish scientific press concerning the use of X-rays for diagnostic purposes. They included a monograph on X-rays: "Ciemne promienie światła a w szczególności roentgenowskie w teoryi i praktyce" (Dark light rays, especially roentgen rays in theory in practice). Its author was the physicist Zygmunt Korosteński from Lvov.

 

Professor Walery Jaworski (1849-1925)

Professor Jaworski's article
(August 21, 1897 - Kraków)

 
At the beginning of February 1896 the first Polish roentgen laboratories were established. In Warszawa, the first one was a private laboratory belonging to Mikołaj Brunner. In Kraków the first roentgen laboratory was established in the University Clinic (7 Kopernik St); it was headed by Dr Walery Jaworski, the later professor of the Jagiellonian University Medical Clinic (he was an eminent gastrologist and discoverer of Helicobacter pylori). He had considerable achievements using radiological investigations in internal diseases. The most spectacular fact, placing him among the pioneers of the world radiology, was the description of the bile concrements and the first stomach examination with the use of a contrast media - carbon dioxide.

Jaworski presented his conclusions: "The bile concrements produce shadows only when they are composed of calcium compounds or blood pigment'[…] 'In order for the stomach to be well visible we will distend it strongly with soda water or lathering powder. The bright place on the screen corresponding to the stomach will become enlarged and take a shape of a distended bladder".
Jaworski Walery: Znaczenie Rozpoznawcze X-prześwietlenia (Diagnostic Value of X-raying). Przegląd Lekarski (Medical Review) 1897; 34:435-6 and 35:449-450

 

Dr Mikołaj Brunner
(1840-1914)

 

 
In the pioneer period of the Polish radiology an important figure was Mikołaj Brunner from Warszawa. He had an excellent medical and physical backgrounds, particularly in the field of electricity. In his experiments he used the same type of Crookes' lamps as Roentgen had done. As early as the end of January 1896 he established a private roentgen laboratory that also provided services for patients of the Warsaw hospitals. In the co-operation with the engineers Paweł Lebiedziński and Bogdan Zatorski, he made many inventions and improvements (an amplifying screen, a new construction of the tube, static devices and a mercury circuit breaker, a kind of cap and others).
Especially important was the fact of inventing the amplifying screen in 1896 by the engineer Piotr Lebiedziński. The experiments with the use of that invention were presented by Brunner on May 19, 1896 at the meeting of the Warsaw Medical Society: "I would like to add that the application of those fluorescing substances - cyanogen with barium and platinum or potassium and platinum - onto a plate considerably accelerates the process of obtaining a good picture That discovery was first made by the chemist P. Lebiedziński and slightly later by Prof. S.P. Thompson in London".
Brunner M: O promieniach Rontgena (Roentgen rays). Gazeta Lekarska (Medical Magazine), 1896; 16: 818

Brunner constructed a cap by means of enclosing the tube in tinfoil, which made it possible to better direct the beam, shorten exposition time and improve the picture sharpness. He also made some innovations of the X-ray tube according to his own design.
Brunner M: O prześwietlaniu ciała ludzkiego za pomocą promieni Roentgen’a w celach diagnostycznych (X-raying human body using roentgen rays for diagnostic purposes). Pamiętniki. Towarzystwa Learskiego. Warszawskiego (Memoirs of the Warsaw Medical Society), 1896; 4: 1172-1173.

His numerous publications and lectures on the use of X-rays popularised the high level of radiology of that time.
Brunner L. Mikołaj in: Biografie (Biographies): A History of Radiology - Part III by B. Pruszyński
Wilamska E.: Mikołaj Ludwik Brunner - A Pioneer of Polish Radiology. 1991. A work from the Chair of the History of Medicine and Pharmacy, the Łódź Medical University. Zdrowie Publiczne (Public Health)1991; 4:1
Sokołowski L.: Mikołaj Ludwik Brunner. Pamiętniki Towarzystwa Lekarskiego Warszawskiego (Memoirs of the Warsaw Medical Society), 1914; 110: 245).

 

The first Polish textbooks
of radiology
(Kraków, 1900 and 1902)

 
It was in Kraków, too, that the first Polish textbooks of radiology were published: first in 1900 by Mieczysław Nartowski (Nartowski M.: Promienie Roentgena i ich zastosowanie do celów rozpoznawczych i leczniczych /Roentgen rays and their application for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes/. Published by A. Krzyżanowski), second in 1902 by Artur Frommer (Frommer A.: Badanie promieniami Roentgena i jego rozwój w ostatnich dwóch latach /The examination using roentgen rays and its development over the past two years/. Published by "Czas").

Until that time a number of publications on radiology by Polish doctors had appeared. The following were the most interesting, describing:

* The first use of bismuth nitrate in Poland for the evaluation of the motor activity of the stomach
Kozłowski W.M: Z dziedziny radiografii i radioskopii (Problems of radiology and radioscopy) Wszechświat (Universe)1898; 37: 577-581 and 38: 601-603

* The use of X-rays in venereology
Kozerski A: Kość promieniowa, dotknięta późnym przymiotem, zdjęta sposobem Roentgena. (The radius affected with late-stage syphilis, taken by means of Roentgen's method). Medycyna (Medicine), 1897; 11: 243-246

* The first use of X-rays for the detection of foreign bodies in ophthalmology
Gałęzowski K: O promieniach Roentgena w okulistyce i o zastosowaniu ich do wykrywania ciał obcych (The use of roentgen rays in ophthalmology and for the detection of foreign bodies). Przegląd Lekarski (Medical Review) 1897; 34:191
Gałęzowski K: Des Rayons Roentgen en ophtalmologie et le leur emploi pour la decouvertr der corps etrangers dans l’oeil. Recueillement d’Ophtalmologie, 1897; seria III, T. XIX, 68: 75

* The diagnostics of the mediastinal tumours
Puławski A: Guz śródpiersia przedniego (tumor mediastini anterioris). Przyczynek do znaczenia rozpoznawczego promieni Roentgena (The anterior mediastinal tumour. A contribution to the diagnostic value of roentgen rays). Gazeta Lekarska (Medical Magazine) 1898; 25 (XXXIII): 664-648

* Radiological diagnostics of the respiratory system
Jaworski W: Beitrag zur diagnostichen X-Durchstrahlung der
Respirationsorgane. Wienier Klinische Wochenschrift 189; X: 702-703

* The use of X-rays in internal medicine
Jaworski W: Znaczenie rozpoznawcze X-prześwietlenia (The diagnostic value of X-raying). Przegląd Lekarski (Medical Review), 1897; 34: 435-436 and 35: 449-450

* The use of X-rays in urology
Herman M: O znaczeniu rozpoznawczem promieni Roentgena w kamicy nerkowej (The diagnostic value of Roentgen's rays in renal calculosis). Przegląd Lekarski (Medical Review), 1899; 6: 71-72

* The use of X-rays in gastroenterology
Mintz S., Brunner M: Przypadek uchyłku przełyku i zdjęcia jego za pomocą
promieni Roentgena (A case of oesophageal diverticulum and its picture by means of Roentgen's rays). Pamiętniki Towarzystwa Lekarskiego Warszawskiego (The Memoirs of the Warsaw Medical Society) 1898; 2: 499

* The localisation of foreign bodies
Szteyner W: Kula wyjęta z przepony i rentgenogram, na którym widać cień tej kuli (A bullet removed from the diaphragm and the roentgenogram showing the shadow of that bullet). Pamiętniki Towarzystwa Lekarskiego Warszawskiego (The Memoirs of the Warsaw Medical Society) 1900; 1: 151
Stembo L: Das Rontgogram eines metallischen Essloffels in der Speiserohre eines erwachsenen Geisteskranken. Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, 1900; XXVI: 774

Years 1901-1939
Since 1939