Radiologist recycles imaging scans as art
Philadelphia-based radiologist Susan Summerton, MD, isn’t just looking for diagnostic clues when she reviews an MRI scan—she’s looking for art.
Summerton, 54, is a diagnostic radiologist with a knack for the creative, the Philly Voice reported. She looks for letters within medical images, recycling them as signs, wall decor, personalized gifts and inspirational messages for sale online.
She’s been at it for two decades, and the idea stemmed from an old alphabet poster she owned, she explained. As a radiologist, she started seeing letters in her x-rays, CT scans and MRI results, and she began to compile her own 26-letter masterpiece.
“All radiologists interpret what they see and come up with a diagnosis, but I have noticed over the years that certain people I work with, myself included, have this special knack for finding the unexpected in the imaging studies and it is not like we work at it,” Summerton told the Voice. “It is almost like a third eye. It allows me to find art in what I do.”
Summerton’s work is available on her website, XrayArtistry.com. Read the full Philly Voice story below:
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.