Technology helped him unlock medical mysteries

Dr. Hillier Baker Jr. of Rochester, a Mayo Clinic radiologist who pioneered the use of CT scans, died Dec. 22 in Rochester.

He was 84.

"He was the lead person in Minnesota, and one of the lead persons in the world, who applied the new tool to neurological diagnoses," said Dr. Jack Whisnant of Rochester, a retired Mayo neurologist.

Baker collaborated with Sir Godfrey Hounsfield, a 1979 Nobel laureate in medicine/physiology, who developed the computed tomography scan machine in London. When a London hospital could not accommodate the machine, Mayo got it, said Whisnant.

Baker, a neuroradiologist, was soon in demand for his expertise in interpreting CT scans of the head and spine, and later applied his skills to magnetic resonance imaging, as well.

Early on, CT scans created a picture of a person's brain, but much study was needed to understand what physicians were seeing. Baker and others referenced hundreds of medical cases, eventually being able to relate what was seen on the image to an actual ailment, such as stroke, cancer or hemorrhage, said Dr. Wayne Houser of Rochester, a retired Mayo neuroradiologist.

Houser said Baker was loyal and generous to young people making their way in medicine, and was a teacher of residents.

Baker graduated from the University of Chicago School of Medicine. After serving a fellowship at Mayo, he served as a military doctor at West Point, N.Y., in the early 1950s.

After the Army, he returned to Mayo, eventually becoming chairman of the Department of Radiology.

He was president of the Radiological Society of North America from 1980-81, and president of the American Society of Neuroradiology in 1974-75.

Among his many honors, he was a Mayo Foundation Distinguished Alumnus.

He retired in 1989, and enjoyed restoring Model A Ford automobiles and collecting coins.

"He was my biggest cheerleader," said his daughter, who practices law.

Baker's wife of 45 years, Jane, died in 1997.

His son, Hillier Baker III, died in 1978.

In addition to Gail, he is survived by daughter Susan Reinhardt of Chapel Hill, N.C., and two granddaughters.