Cobalt Bomb History

It concentrations the radiation on the cancer, and minimum the time each treatment takes. It normally includes one single beam of radiation, sometimes more than. The machine will move around you in a circle. It may help to minimum the risk of side effects by reducing the amount of radiation to the close to the organs.

Radiation therapy of lung cancer uses powerful X-rays and high energy to kill cancer cells or sometimes to prevent them from growing.

Being able to survive is the key to the existence of the Human race. In our endeavour to survive, we now need to tackle Cancer; the untamed monster of the modern era. Radioisotopes can be crucial to this survival. Very simply said; they can destroy any tumor. The isotopes are used as a source of a specific type of radiation, which is delivered to the target tissue by suitable means, destroying the tumor. The challenge in this kind of treatment would be not to destroy the organ itself in the bargain.

Following that discovery, the field of nuclear medicine moved forward in 1931 with Ernest Lawrence and the invention of the cyclotron—a type of particle accelerator. (Carlton & Adler, 2012) This made it possible for his brother John to develop the first radioactive isotope—phosphorus-32—which was also the first radioactive isotope used to treat a human disease. Shortly after that, technetium-99m, which is one of the most commonly used isotopes today, was discovered by Emilio

Can be traced back to experiments made soon after the discovery of x-rays (1895), when it was shown that exposure to radiation produced cutaneous burns. The use of radiation continues today as a treatment for cancer in radiation therapy. Henri Becquerel discovered after multiple experiments that it was the material itself that gave off the rays. Later on Marie Curie named it radioactivity. She found out the elements which are thorium, polonium, and radium. Radiation was really helpful during World War 1. During that time, people found out that radiation materials that are high can be extremely dangerous. People can die because of radiation, because of radiation exposure. That was proven with, “Radium Girls”. In 1993, it provided a wealth of information on the long-term effect of radiation exposure. The case also provoked drastic changes in both the fields of workplace safety & liability, and the field of Health Physics, dealing with the health effects and safety issues involved in working with radioactive materials. The Manhattan Project that had a bomb involved, led to the long-term radiation exposure.

The early studies in nuclear medicine provided a new outlook to scientists on ways for treating fatal illnesses such as cancer. Physicist Wilhelm Roentgen acknowledged, during his experiments, that he had stumbled upon the discovery, which would influence medical practices that benefited society. Roentgen’s experiments at the end of the nineteenth century laid the foundations for nuclear medicine. In 1895 while working with electricity and the effects it had on certain gasses in cathode tubes, Roentgen began to notice several anomalies. Roentgen decided to use a piece of cardboard covered with barium platinocyanide and a photographic screen to illuminate his newly found rays. Perplexed by his discovery, the physicist used the screen to conclude that the rays would pass through many objects. His development influenced the study of nuclear science in many ways; now known as the X-Ray. The X-Ray offered new techniques for observing broken bones and other medical phenomena in the early twentieth century.

On November 8, 1895, a German physics professor named Wilhelm Roentgen discovered x-rays. This advance in technology helped man explore the unknown of the human body without performing surgery. Only the microscope could compete with x-rays in the “contribution to medical vision” (Gunderman 2). After the discovery of x-rays, researchers found that there were therapeutic and also cancerous results from radiation emissions. Before this discovery became public, the Radium Watch Company began coating their watch dials with radium in order for them to glow, to allow owners of these watches see the time, even at night. However, the women workers, as watch dial painters, at the company would wet there brushes with their mouths to create a finer point. After months of this practice, many of the women received cancerous tumors and necrosis of the jaw. As a result, most were buried in lead-lined coffins because of the high emissions of radiation from their bodies. Lead is now used to shield radiation from patients that are not receiving a full body scan. An x-ray is made from a beam of high energy photons passing through the body which are either diminished or blocked entirely when they hit subatomic particles, like bone or metal. The denser and thicker the substance the brighter the image on the radiograph. Both radiological scans, x-rays and CT scans both use ionizing radiation to capture the images of the human body.

The drugs that were used to cure either prostate cancer or leukemia were some options. In the early 1900s x-rays were discovered, and they thought that radiation could be used to kill tumor cells. However according to Siddhartha Mukherjee, the author of the pulitzer prize book “The Emperor of all Maladies” states, “But scientifically, cancer still remained a black box, a mysterious entity that was best cut away en bloc rather than treated by some deeper medical insight” (Mukherjee 23). Mukherjee was trying to say that cancer is still a mystery, also known as a “black box.” Doctors only used two strategies to cure cancer which are “excising the tumor surgically or incinerating it with radiation- a choice between the hot ray and the cold knife”

X-ray revolutionised the healthcare technology as it changed the way of diagnosis for injury and treatment for cancer. Prior to the x-ray imaging occurrence, exploratory surgery was needed before treatment to investigate the type of trauma. Therefore, the diagnosis time and recovery time would take longer; also, patients would suffer from more pain. With the x-ray film, doctors could see the invisible body parts; therefore, the above problems could be fixed. This technology development was important during the World War 1, which indeed saved a lot of lives. Next, X-ray is the precursor of radiotherapy treatment. In the past, cancers could be treated by surgeries and hormone treatments; nevertheless, they had their limitations, such as restriction

In 1985, a Canadian-built radiation treatment device began obliterating holes through patients’ bodies. The Therac-25, designed and developed by AECL (Atomic Energy Canadian Limited) was an advanced linear accelerator that could speed up electrons turning them into a high-energy beam that annihilated surface tumours on the skin, or could converted the electrons into x-rays to penetrate tumours deeper within the body. The Therac-25 was the latest and greatest version of the French company’s previous models, the Therac-6 and Therac-20. One million dollars were invested into this machine to give radiation treatments to cancer patients. Most of the patients receiving treatment from the Therac-25 had already endured a form of surgery to remove the majority of the tumour and were using the Therac-25 as a means of eliminating any leftover growth. This high powered radiation machine was controlled by a computer from a separate room to protect the operator from being exposed to any unnecessary, moreover unwanted, doses of radiation.

This discovery was made by the radiation team, Emilio Segrè, Thomas Ypsilantis, Clyde Wiegand, and Owen Chamberlain at Berkley, University of California.

After performing large number of experiments, Edison, along with Dally, discovered the use of calcium tungstate over barium platinocyanide as a fluorescing agent to detect the existence of x-rays (Gurley & Callaway, 2011). Since Dally played the major role in this research, he once again directly placed his hand in the beam, which slowly got significantly damaged (Gagliardi, 1991). In addition to deep ulceration of his hand; Dally lost his facial hair such as eyebrows and eyelashes (Gagliardi, 1991). It soon became apparent that x-ray was what caused the degenerative skin changes in Dally’s hand and face (Gagliardi, 1991). Seeing that there was no way to stop the persistent destruction of Dally’s skin, he soon suffered with amputation of his both arms (Sansare, 2011). All efforts of ointments, dermatologist and surgeon were ineffective and Dally died of metastatic carcinoma in 1904 at age of 39 (Sansare, 2011). Clarence Dally’s death was a tragic and he is thought to be the first American radiation fatality (Sherer, 2013). Because of Dally’s injuries and death, radiation protection became an important part of the radiology workers (Gagliardi,

In recent years, radiation therapy has improved tremendously. It targets tumors more accurately and minimizes damage to the surrounding

Nuclear medicine however has made it possible to treat cancer. One of the forms of cancer treatments that involve radioactive materials is radiation therapy. Radiation therapy utilizes X and gamma rays to target and kill the cancer cells. “Radiation therapy kills cancer cells by damaging their DNA. Radiation can either damage the DNA directly or create charged particles in cells that in turn damage the DNA.” (“Radiation Therapy for Cancer”) Radiation therapy affects only the selected area of treatment, whereas other treatments such as chemo therapy affects the entire body. Radiation therapy can be administered two different ways. The first method of administration is internally. Radiation is injected directly into the blood stream where it travels to the cancerous area. The other method of administering radiation therapy is externally. “Many types of external-beam radiation therapy are delivered using a machine called a linear accelerator (also called a LINAC). A LINAC uses electricity to form a stream of fast-moving subatomic particles. This creates high-energy radiation that may be used to treat cancer.” (“Radiation Therapy for

Radiation therapy (called radiotherapy) uses high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells. Like surgery, radiation therapy is local therapy and it can affect cancer cells only in the treated area.