©Isabelle Dussauge 2008 Division of History of Science and Technology Royal Institute of Technology, KTH SE‐100 44 Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm papers in the History and Philosophy of Technology TRITA‐HOT 2059 Editor: Helena Törnkvist ISBN 978‐91‐7178‐898‐6 ISSN 0349‐2842 Cover picture: MRI brain scans. Photos: courtesy of Lars‐Olof Wahlund. Layout and cover: Isabelle Dussauge To Janne preface It is special and somehow uncanny to look at this book and attempt to see in it, again, what has long been an open‐ended curiosity project, a steady company (quite often uninvited), a tenacious adversary and the unexpected start of many adventures. My years with this dissertation have been times of change, of personal, intellectual and geographical moves. There have been several lives within that life. People have made my world all this time. I feel indebted to many and most of all, grateful. My advisor Arne Kaijser has encouraged me and believed in me even in my most unproductive moments. Thanks Arne for having faith in me, for sending me to the MIT for a term, for caring—and for letting me choose my way. Pär Blomkvist has been my co‐advisor and the main dramaturge of this book. Pär, your insights, your enthusiasm, and your realistic “everything‐on‐the‐table” approach on writing have been a central catalyst for my work. Your warm humor and your open‐mindedness have been important to me and I hope that you will give me further opportunities to discuss your famous Square Theory. Eva Åhrén, you were given the uneasy position of coming in as a late advisor, and I am so happy that you accepted the challenge! You have shared your knowledge of both medical history and media studies and made me less ignorant (and calmer) as this dissertation took shape. You gave this project a firmer direction and a pair of own feet to stand on (and yes, you made me believe that there was a ground under these feet). Your scholarly sharpness, your professional generosity and your friendship have meant more to me than you can imagine. I will remember these years as a time of many travels. Eva, Mike Sappol, Sita Reddy and Micke Nilsson—from the bottom of my heart, thanks for a warm, fun and inspiring Washington stay and for connecting me to your professional and personal worlds there. I also want to thank Joe Dumit, Anita Chan, Ann Pollock, Natasha Myers, David Jones, Debbie Meinbresse, Roz Williams and the MIT STS‐program for sharing thoughts, knowledge, smart talk and fun talk and making my Boston time exciting. A very special thanks to Joe for advising me at a decisive moment for the orientation of this work. Thomas Söderqvist, Susanne Bauer, Jan‐Eric Olsén, Sniff Andersen Nexø, Hanne Jessen and Søren Bak‐Jensen, you have welcomed me into your intellectual family which to me has meant a home for thoughts, a laboratory for ideas and great moments around a few beers. Thomas, your comments on the first draft of this dissertation made the completion of it possible—thanks truly. I am also grateful to Martina Blum for sharing her time and knowledge of radiological culture and to David Thorsén and Davy Prieur for help with this book’s section on HIV/AIDS. Friends have been an integral part of my life and of the efforts to tame this dissertation work within the realm of the possible. Ulrika Nilsson and Lise Kvande, I am forever grateful for your enlightning readings, comments, interest and cheering ups. Davy and Ulrika (& Ada & Alma), thanks for taking so good care of me on many crash days, for great traveling and for being the friends that you are! Helén, I miss our improvised breakfast discussions, your creativity, and your sense of freedom. Lotta and Helene, you now live in other cities and countries but you have meant a lot all these years and I am lucky to be able to call you my friends. Thanks also to the Bromseth family who has made me feel at home in Trondheim and Oslo, even on a pair of skis. My parents, brother and grandmother have provided love, a responsive ear, laughs, hikes, thoughts, wine and great food all these years. Thanks for taking me as I am! You have made me feel welcome even in the moments when my visits have been far more scarce than I wished. I can’t wait to see you more often. I want to thank collectively my workmates of KTH’s Division of History of Science and Technology (we are so many now!). I have appreciated spending time at work more than I expected—thanks to you all for that and for your comments in the different phases of this project. With particular mentions: Micke Nilsson, please never ever change your sense of humor! Huge thanks to Helena Törnkvist and Björn Berglund for being such smart and good‐tempered colleagues even in (recent and recurrent) stress peaks, Thomas Kaiserfeld for trust and patience, Julia Peralta for great co‐ working and for bringing sunshine into the office space I often borrow, and Anna Storm—who is metamorphosing into a doctor at the very same moment as this book is being printed—for being so attuned and for keeping me going on. Anna, your support, advice and friendship have meant everything in the crucial years of this dissertation work. My mentor Folke Snickars made me realize that I wanted to do this and that I could do it. For that I owe you lots. I also want to thank collectively friends and participants in two non‐academic projects in which I have been involved during the earlier years of this dissertation, Teater ObsScen! and KTH’s mentorship program Technologia: You have taught me that to do, make and think are three sides of the same coin. This project was financed in part by VINNOVA (The Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems) and CESIS (Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies). STINT (The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education) granted me a scholarship that made a five months stay at the MIT STS‐program possible. Peter Aspelin, Lena‐Kajsa Sidén, Hannibal Sökjer, Anders Lekholm and Hans Weinberger constituted an initial reference group that helped the beginning of this project. Thanks! Thanks to my informants for lending me material and showing interest for the content of this text. Special thanks to Ingrid Agartz and Lars‐Olof Wahlund for responding so promptly although I contacted you so late in the writing—and for lending me original photos of early MRI scans. Many people have devoted time to interviews within the frame of this project. Although few of the resulting conversations have been used as sources here, all have increased my understanding of the worlds of MRI and helped me choose empirical focus. I therefore address a sincere thanks to Åsa Avango, Erik Boijsen, Britt‐Marie Bolinder, Anders Ericsson, Lars Filipsson, Hans Gref, Anders Hemmingsson, Gunnar Hofring, Lars Johansson, Bo Jung, Lars Lundqvist, Bo Nordell, Silas Olsson, Bertil Persson, Holger Pettersson, Tore Scherstén, Solweig Schwartz, Stefan Skare, Göran Sperber, Peter Stilbs, Nils Stocksén, Freddy Ståhlberg, Hannibal Sökjer, Heikki Teriö, Jan Weis, and Lennart Wetterberg for spending time and effort answering my questions. Special thanks to Åsa Avango and Hannibal Sökjer for introducing me to their workplaces and showing me how an MRI‐day looks like from the position of the observer. Thanks also to Susanne Lager at Vetenskapsrådets arkiv, for digging up box after box of documents, and to Bernard Vowles for cleaning up this text from Swenglish, Frenglish and Sworwegianglish. I want to extend warm thanks to Anders Houltz, Anna Storm, Micke Nilsson and my beloved partner Janne Bromseth who have proofread important parts of this dissertation and contributed to make at least some sentences shorter ☺ Janne, this book is dedicated to you; it marks the beginning of another life. I would never have completed this without you. Not only have you commented this text many times and patiently helped me develop it. With your love, curiosity, smartness, and commitment to live with all your heart and soul you have opened up whole new worlds to me. You have inspired me, supported me, fascinated me, loved me, challenged me, made me laugh and travel, and made me feel human during these intense years of work. And you have shown me the way to an independent, freer (and more fun!) life. I am eagerly looking forward to the continuation of it all. Stockholm, February 2008 Isabelle Dussauge contents [1] INTRODUCTION 17 background and problem: blind technologies of seeing 17 purpose & questions 21 research landscape: MRI and its radiological vision 22 MRI’s early development: historical perspectives 22 MRI’s radiological vision: STS perspectives 26 theoretical premises: technomedical gazes 27 gazes 27 digital radiological media 29 technomedical gazes and bodies 30 methods 32 histories and definitions of MRI 32 oral history and evidence 34 choices 36 limits 37 structure of the thesis 38 [2] UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE AUTHORITIES? 45 from anglo‐saxon protons to swedish interest in MRI 46 lund‐aberdeen 46 stockholm‐L.A. 48 uppsala 50 towards clinical evaluation 53 enter the medical research council (MFR) 53 a contested chronology of origins 55 UAS & MFR: coalescing into clinical evaluation 57 clinical radiology vs experimental science 59 MFR’s decisions and boundary‐work 59 uppsala’s internal demarcation lines 61 towards ubiquitous MRI? 64 conclusion 67 [3] GOING RADIOLOGICAL 75 evaluating MRI representations 76 valuably novel as better and unique 77 MRI and body in space and time: composing a radiological gaze 82 recomposing radiology’s anatomical bodily space 83 articulating bodily