How Did Marie Curie Use Brachytherapy?

Q11. Marie curie took many leads in the world of science, one of them being; she won 2 Nobel Prizes in her lifetime and had a high place of honor in French history. Her study of radium was especially important, helping to change preconceived ideas as to how radioactivity worked. Even though she had opened maybe one of the largest Pandora’s Box and unleashed mortal danger to the world.

Doctors had been using radiation to destroy cancerous cells since the unfolding of X-rays and radium in the 1890s, but both techniques had their own issues. X-ray machines were complicated to make use of, and radium implanted near tumors. In addition, X-rays weren’t strong enough to be entirely effective, and as for both of them, they were quite expensive.

Along with her husband, Pierre Curie, Marie Curie discovered radium and polonium, and coined the term of radioactivity. She was an amazing pioneer for women in science, being the first female professor at the University of Paris and the first woman to be buried at the Parthenon for her own achievements. In addition, she received 2 Nobel Prizes, one in Chemistry and one in Physics, and is one of only two people to ever win 2 awards in separate sciences, along with being the first woman to win one. Thanks to the enlightenment, industrial revolution and World War I, Marie Curie could do the work that lead to our modern medicine and understanding of radioactive material.

Lisa meitner was born 7 November 1878 she is a resident of Austria Germany Sweden and United Kingdom. At the age of eight years old she started to keep records of math and science. Lisa went to Austrian Swedish, she worked on radioactivity and nuclear physics. She was the second woman to obtain a doctoral degree. When she was in the University she took everything seriously. Lisa's partner was Otto Hahn they let a small group. They discovered nuclear fission of uranium. The nuclear weapons created in the US during World War II. They use nuclear weapons against Japan. Most of her scientific career was in Berlin.

This is what led Curie to take Becquerel’s work a few steps further and conduct her own experiments on uranium rays. She discovered that the rays were constant no matter what form or condition of the uranium. She theorized the rays came from the atomic structure. This idea was revolutionary and created its own field in science, known as the atomic physics, this is when Marie coined the word “radioactivity” to describe the phenomena. Even when they had their first daughter Irene in 1897 there work did not slow. Pierre then stopped his own studies to help Marie with her new discovery of radioactivity. In 1898 they discovered a new radioactive element. They named it polonium after Marie’s native country, Poland. They detected the presence of another radioactive element and called this radium. In 1902 they had extracted pure radium to prove its existence as a unique chemical element.

This element proved to be even more radioactive and had significant implications for medical and scientific advancements. The discovery of polonium and radium not only expanded the understanding of the atomic world, but Curie also laid the foundation for further research in the field of radioactivity. Marie Curie's groundbreaking work in this area not only earned her two Nobel Prizes but also paved the way for future advancements in nuclear physics and medicine. Her discoveries continue to have a profound impact on various scientific fields to this

She dropped what research she was doing so that she could assist in any way she could. Not too long earlier, construction on the Radium Institute, a place where Curie and her peers could study the effects of radiation. At the start of World War One, most of her friends and coworkers had been drafted to fight in the war. Curie realized that the x-rays could help save lives by allowing doctors to see bullets and shrapnel lodged deep under the skin. After much convincing, she got France’s first military radiology centers set up. Curie was appointed Director of the Red Cross Radiology Service, and not long after started accepting money from rich supporters to fund the department. She asked for body shops and manufacturers to donate cars and parts to help speed things

The invention of the microscope allowed doctors to further their research and develop more advanced treatments. With all of the new advances, by the twentieth century an oncological breakthrough appeared, chemo and radiation therapy (Sakorafas and Safioleas 145). In 1896 radiotherapy first came to use when Emile Grubbe exposed a patient to radium mixed with other chemicals, however the patient Grubbe performed the test on only lived for one month past the therapy. Alexander Graham Bell tried therapy again in 1903, by placing radium in a glass tube, and injecting it into the tumor to kill any lesions that caused the cancer. Since this procedure worked much better it added to the few treatments that patients had availability to in this era, along with mastectomies and other oncological

Curie helped millions of people deal with cancer through developing revolutionary technology, especially radiologic technology. In

The use of radioactive elements in medicine is still growing to this day. Many oncologists use it to treat their patients who have cancer. Many cancer patients use this option. They use the radiation to kill off cancer cells. X-ray technicians or radiologists will also use it to administer x-rays to people who may have a broken bone, or need an MRI. The patient is injected with a radioactive material that helps the doctor be able to see inside the body better, whether it be with pictures or ultrasound. Radioactive material is defined as “material that contains radioactivity and thus emits ionizing radiation. It may be material that contains natural radioactivity from the environment or a material that may have been made radioactive.” (The Healthy Physics Society). This happens when someone needs a colonoscopy. They have to drink or are injected with this liquid that helps their organs and all other masses in the body be seen better by the radioactive materials.

Polonium is a highly radioactive metal. Marie discovered polonium by grinding pitchblende with a pestle, but before she started grinding it, she first discovered that radiation is linked to an atom, not an atom’s molecules, which everybody thought at the time. With this hypothesis she successfully discovered polonium, which she and her husband named after Marie’s home, Poland. Her polonium was then used later on in her lifetime to discover the atomic nucleus, artificial radioactivity, and fission, which is the reproduction of a cell. The discovery of polonium has changed our world because it is now used as a lightweight heat source for thermoelectric power in space satellites. Polonium is used in the satellites because a small amount of polonium can release a large amount of energy making the supply last longer. Satellites are very important in our world because they are used for communication and they take pictures of other planets and galaxies so scientists can understand more of what's out there. Satellites are why people can see shows on a TV. Also, they help with transmitting cell phone calls around the world. This is especially helpful for when an important business call is being made from one country or state to another country or state. Without Marie’s discovery of polonium, we wouldn't be able to have satellites, artificial radioactivity, or understand what an atomic nucleus

In 1891 she decided to go to paris, this marked the beginning of her career in science. Once in paris, she studied at the Sorbonne where she received her Licenciateships in physics and the Mathematical sciences. Then in 1894 she met a professor by the name of Pierre Curie while searching for larger lab space. Though Pierre didn’t have a large laboratory, he was able to find some space for her to work. It wasn’t long before their mutual interest in science drew them together and they were married a year later. Marie did not accept Pierres first proposal though, as she was still planning on moving back to Poland, still under the

With her experiments, she became the first woman in France to get a doctorate. Curie decided to continue Henri Becquerel’s experiments with X-rays. She came up with the groundbreaking idea that the rays were actually an atomic property. The paper she wrote reporting her discoveries had to be presented through her professor because women weren’t allowed to address the Academy of Sciences. With this, she continued her work to find new elements. First, she found polonium, which is named for her home country, and then she discovered radium. Pierre and Marie’s greatest work was done in a run-down shed. They worked from 1898 to 1902. The Curies could have made a fortune if they patented their process of extracting and refining radium, but they decided share their knowledge with the world.

     It was not easy for Marie and Pierre to convince the science community of their new findings. Marie succeeded in separating the radium from the barium, but it wasn't easy. She had to treat very large amounts of pitchblende, but she had plenty of pitchblende to use. (The Curie's

Then in 1898 she drew the revolutionary conclusion that pitchblende contains a small amount of an unknown radiating element.      Pierre Curie understood the importance of this supposition and joined his wife's work. In the next year, the Curie's discovered two new radiating elements which they named Polonium(after Maries native country) and Radium.