Chapter 9: , The Doctor and the Atom, pp. 79-101

_Atomic Energy in Medicine_, K. E. Halnan, Philosophical Library,
Inc., New York 10016, 1958, 157 pp., $6.00. (Out of print but
available through libraries.)

_Teach Yourself Atomic Physics_, James M. Valentine, The Macmillan
Company, New York 10011, 1961, 192 pp., $1.95. (Out of print but
available through libraries.) Chapter X, Medical and Biological Uses
of Radioactive Isotopes, pp. 173-184.

_Atoms for Peace_, David O. Woodbury, Dodd, Mead & Company, New York
10016, 1965, 259 pp., $4.50. Pp. 174-191.

_The Atom at Work_, Jacob Sacks, The Ronald Press Company, New York
10010, 1956, 341 pp., $5.50. Chapter 13, Radioactive Isotopes in
Hospital and Clinic, pp. 244-264.

Articles

Ionizing Radiation and Medicine, S. Warren, _Scientific American_,
201: 164 (September 1959).

Nuclear Nurses Learn to Tame the Atom, W. McGaffin, _Today’s Health_,
37: 62 (December 1959).

How Isotopes Aid Medicine in Tracking Down Your Ailments, J. Foster,
_Today’s Health_, 42: 40 (May 1964).

Nuclear Energy as a Medical Tool, G. W. Tressel, _Today’s Health_, 43:
50 (May 1965).

Reports

_Radioisotopes in Medicine_ (SRIA-13), Stanford Research Institute,
Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, 5285
Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia 22151, 1959, 180 pp., $3.00.

The following reports are available from the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 20402.

_Isotopes and Radiation Technology_ (Fall 1963), P. S. Baker, A. F.
Rupp, and Associates, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U. S. Atomic
Energy Commission, 123 pp., $0.70.

_Radioisotopes in Medicine_ (ORO-125), Gould A. Andrews, Marshall
Brucer, and Elizabeth B. Anderson, 1956, 817 pp., $6.00.

_Applications of Radioisotopes and Radiation in the Life Sciences_,
Hearings before the Subcommittee on Research, Development, and
Radiation of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, 87th Congress, 1st
Session, 1961, 513 pp., $1.50; Summary Analysis of the Hearings, 23
pp., $0.15.

Motion Pictures

Available for loan without charge from the AEC Headquarters Film Library, Division of Public Information, U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, D. C. 20545 and from other AEC film libraries.

_Radioisotope Applications in Medicine_, 26 minutes, black and white,
sound, 1964. Produced by the Educational Broadcasting Corporation
under the joint direction of the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission’s
Divisions of Isotopes Development and Nuclear Education and Training,
and the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies. This film traces the
development of the use of radioisotopes and radiation in the field of
medicine from the early work of Hevesy to the present. Descriptions of
the following are given: study of cholesterol and arteriosclerosis;
cobalt labeled vitamin B₁₂ used to study pernicious anemia; history of
iodine radioisotopes and the thyroid; brain tumor localization;
determination of body fluid volumes; red cell lifetime; and use of
radioisotopes for the treatment of various diseases.

_Medicine_, 20 minutes, sound, color, 1957. Produced by the U. S.
Information Agency. Four illustrations of the use of radioactive
materials in diagnosis and therapy are given: exact preoperative
location of brain tumor; scanning and charting of thyroids; cancer
therapy research; and the study of blood diseases and hardening of the
arteries.

_Radiation Protection in Nuclear Medicine_, 45 minutes, sound, color,
1962. Produced by the Fordel Films for the Bureau of Medicine and
Surgery of the U. S. Navy. This semitechnical film demonstrates the
procedures devised for naval hospitals to protect against the gamma
radiation emitted from materials used in radiation therapy.

The following films in the Magic of the Atom Series were produced by the Handel Film Corporation. They are each 12½ minutes long, have sound, and are in black and white.

_The Atom and the Doctor_ (1954) shows three applications of
radioisotopes in medicine: testing for leukemia and other blood
disorders with radioiron; diagnosis of thyroid conditions with
radioiodine; and cancer research and therapy with radiogallium.

_The Atom in the Hospital_ (1961) (available in color and black and
white) illustrates the following facilities at the City of Hope
Medical Center in Los Angeles: the stationary cobalt source that is
used to treat various forms of malignancies; a rotational therapy unit
called the “cesium ring”, which revolves around the patient and
focuses its beam on the diseased area; and the total-body irradiation
chamber for studying the effects of radiation on living things.
Research with these facilities is explained.

_Atomic Biology for Medicine_ (1956) explains experiments performed to
discover effects of radiation on mammals.

_Atoms for Health_ (1956) outlines two methods of diagnosis and
treatment possible with radiation: a diagnostic test of the liver, and
cancer therapy with a radioactive cobalt device. Case histories are
presented step-by-step.

_Radiation: Silent Servant of Mankind_ (1956) depicts four uses of
controlled radiation that can benefit mankind: bombardment of plants
from a radioactive cobalt source to induce genetic changes for study
and crop improvement; irradiation of deep-seated tumors with a beam
from a particle accelerator; therapy of thyroid cancer with
radioactive iodine; and possibilities for treating brain tumors.

PHOTO CREDITS

Cover Courtesy Brookhaven National Laboratory

Page
1 General Electric Company
2, 3, & 4 _Discovery of the Elements._ Mary Elvira Weeks, Journal of
Chemical Education
6 Nobel Institute
12 Chicago Wesley Memorial Hospital (main photo)
13 Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (LRL)
14 Brookhaven National Laboratory
17 LRL
21 LRL
22 Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
24 LRL
28 Argonne National Laboratory
39 Paul V. Harper, M. D.
41 University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor
Institute

This booklet is one of the “Understanding the Atom” Series. Comments are invited on this booklet and others in the series; please send them to the Division of Technical Information, U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, D. C. 20545.

Published as part of the AEC’s educational assistance program, the series includes these titles:

_Accelerators_
_Animals in Atomic Research_
_Atomic Fuel_
_Atomic Power Safety_
_Atoms at the Science Fair_
_Atoms in Agriculture_
_Atoms, Nature, and Man_
_Books on Atomic Energy for Adults and Children_
_Careers in Atomic Energy_
_Computers_
_Controlled Nuclear Fusion_
_Cryogenics, The Uncommon Cold_
_Direct Conversion of Energy_
_Fallout From Nuclear Tests_
_Food Preservation by Irradiation_
_Genetic Effects of Radiation_
_Index to the UAS Series_
_Lasers_
_Microstructure of Matter_
_Neutron Activation Analysis_
_Nondestructive Testing_
_Nuclear Clocks_
_Nuclear Energy for Desalting_
_Nuclear Power and Merchant Shipping_
_Nuclear Power Plants_
_Nuclear Propulsion for Space_
_Nuclear Reactors_
_Nuclear Terms, A Brief Glossary_
_Our Atomic World_
_Plowshare_
_Plutonium_
_Power from Radioisotopes_
_Power Reactors in Small Packages_
_Radioactive Wastes_
_Radioisotopes and Life Processes_
_Radioisotopes in Industry_
_Radioisotopes in Medicine_
_SNAP, Nuclear Space Reactors_
_Sources of Nuclear Fuel_
_Space Radiation_
_Spectroscopy_
_Synthetic Transuranium Elements_
_The Atom and the Ocean_
_The Chemistry of the Noble Gases_
_The Elusive Neutrino_
_The First Reactor_
_The Natural Radiation Environment_
_Whole Body Counters_
_Your Body and Radiation_

A single copy of any one booklet, or of no more than three different booklets, may be obtained free by writing to:

USAEC, P. O. BOX 62, OAK RIDGE, TENNESSEE 37830

Complete sets of the series are available to school and public librarians, and to teachers who can make them available for reference or for use by groups. Requests should be made on school or library letterheads and indicate the proposed use.

Students and teachers who need other material on specific aspects of nuclear science, or references to other reading material, may also write to the Oak Ridge address. Requests should state the topic of interest exactly, and the use intended.

In all requests, include “Zip Code” in return address.

Printed in the United States of America
USAEC Division of Technical Information Extension, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

FOOTNOTES

[1]The early dangers from use of X rays, due to incomplete understanding
and inadequate shielding, have now been eliminated.

[2]Gamma rays are high-energy electromagnetic radiation.

[3]Alpha particles are large positively charged particles, identical to
helium nuclei. For definitions of unfamiliar words see _Nuclear
Terms, A Brief Glossary_, a companion booklet in this series.

[4]For detailed descriptions of these waves and particles, see _Our
Atomic World_, a companion booklet in this series.

[5]An equivalent statement is that nuclei of isotopes have the same
number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.

[6]See Appendix for a description of types of radiation-detection
instruments.

[7]See _Radioisotopes and Life Processes_, another booklet in this
series, for a discussion of one area of biomedical research.

[8]A positron is an “antielectron”. It has the mass of an electron but a
positive charge.

[9]A collimator is a focusing device consisting of a series of slits
between blocks of shielding material. Consult the Appendix for
descriptions of other instruments mentioned here.

[10]The superscript m after this isotope indicates an excited state of
the atom.

[11]As radioactive nuclei disintegrate, they change to other radioactive
forms—their “daughter” products. Every radioisotope is thus part of
a chain or series of steps that ends with a stable form.
Technetium-99^{m} is a daughter product of molybdenum-99; it decays
by a process known as isomeric transition to a state of lower energy
and longer half-life.

[12]The curie is the basic unit of radiation intensity. One curie is
approximately the amount of radioactivity in 1 gram of radium.

[13]See Your Body and Radiation and The Genetic Effects of Radiation,
other booklets in this series, for detailed explanations of
radiation effects.

[14]The use of radium is not under AEC control.

[15]One family of measuring instruments is described in
_Whole Body Counters_,
another booklet in this series. These are large devices that make
use of scintillating crystals or liquids.

Transcriber’s Notes

--Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
is public-domain in the country of publication.

--Where possible, UTF superscript and subscript numbers are used; some
e-reader fonts may not support these characters.

--In the text version only, underlined or italicized text is delimited
by _underscores_.

--In the text version only, superscript text is preceded by caret and
delimited by ^{brackets}.

--In the text version only, subscripted text is preceded by underscore
and delimited by _{brackets}.

End of Project Gutenberg's Radioisotopes in Medicine, by Earl W. Phelan