11. Cobalt Cancer Therapy
The cobalt machine looks somewhat intimidating, but cobalt therapy is actually still used around the world for cancer treatment. Cobalt-60, a radioactive isotope of cobalt, was first used to treat a cancer patient in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1951. In the procedure, a small cylinder of cobalt-60 is loaded into the head of the apparatus. The device is carefully pointed at the patient’s cancerous cells, and beams of gamma rays enter into the patient. The gamma rays kill healthy cells as well as carcinogenic, so the calibration of the machine is incredibly essential. Despite the destruction of healthy cells, the rates of survival for cancer went from 25% to 75% after the introduction of cobalt therapy.
While the United States and other wealthy and scientifically advanced nations have primarily moved on to Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy, or IMRT, which uses high-energy electron accelerators to produce X-Rays, many countries around the world still use the Cobalt-60 machines due to their relative ease of use and maintenance and much lower cost.