4. Marie Curie and mobile x-ray equipment in World War I
Marie Curie gained worldwide fame for her work in radioactivity, a word which she is credited for having coined. She discovered two elements, radium and polonium. Marie founded the prestigious Curie Institutes in Warsaw and in Paris. She led the studies which resulted in the first treatments of tumors and neoplasms using radiation. The value of her contributions to science and medicine are incalculable. But it was during World War I when Curie made her contributions which directly affected the lives and health of an estimated 1 million French and British soldiers, the colonial troops from their respective empires, and later American soldiers as well. It came from her observation that immediate surgery on wounded troops saved lives, and available x-ray equipment aided surgeons.
Marie studied the requirements for mobile x-ray equipment, including the best available vehicles and their mechanical operation. She also studied radiology and anatomy as she purchased vehicles, x-ray machines, and portable generators to power them. During this time she took thousands of x-rays, as the stations were produced and set up at field hospitals. The troops called the mobile units “Little Curies”. She acquired 20 mobile units and over 200 x-ray stations at field hospitals during the first year of the war. Curie personally directed the set up and testing of the equipment. The near-constant exposure to x-rays contributed to the personal exposure of radiation which led to the aplastic anemia which killed her in 1934.
Also Read: 20 Inventors Killed by their Own Inventions.