Radioactive Clock with Radium

Radium is a highly radioactive chemical element classified among the alkaline earth metals of the periodic table of elements. This element has several research uses, and historically it was used in a wide range of industries. Before the realization that radiation was harmful, radium was actually used as a health additive in personal care products, and its inclusion was an advertising point to make these products appeal to consumers. Unfortunately, numerous radiation-related deaths occurred before the scientific community realized that radium and other radioactive elements posed a health threat.

Radium is found in trace amounts in uranium ore, and it is significantly more radioactive than uranium, a well known element due to its use in atomic weapons. This element is the heaviest of the alkaline earths, and when it is isolated, it proves to be a pure white metal which demonstrates luminescence in the dark. Radium reacts quickly with the air, turning black when it is exposed, and it also interacts with the containers it is stored in, making it difficult to safely handle. The element has an atomic number of 88, and it is identified with the symbol Ra on the periodic table of elements.

The discovery of radium is credited to Marie Curie and her husband Pierre, who discovered radium and polonium while researching uranium in Curie’s native Poland in the 1880s. By 1911, Curie had successfully isolated the element, after receiving the Nobel Prize in 1903 for her work; she received another in 1911 for her isolation of radium. Curie was a truly remarkable women for the time in which she worked; she was an accomplished chemist and physicist, and her contributions to the sciences are honored by the element curium and the Curie, a unit of radiation.

Curie named the element radium for the Latin radius, or “ray,” in a reference to the element’s radioactive properties. Commercially, the element was used in a wide range of luminescent products, especially paints, until the scientific community realized that these uses were dangerous. During the period of time in which radium was used commercially, numerous workers got sick as a result of their exposure, and some lobbied for better worker protections in the hopes of preventing more cases of work-related illnesses in the future.

In research, radium is used as a source of neutrons in laboratories, and it is also researched by scientists who are interested in learning more about it and its isotopes. Radium is also sometimes used in treatment for cancers and in medical imaging. Some antiques like watches with luminescent dials contain radium, a testimony to the element’s once widespread commercial use.

Source: http://www.wisegeek.com/

Aside from the element, radium, cobalt-60 is also used in radiation therapy, but due to terrorist threats, where cobalt-60 can be stolen and used as ingredients for nuclear attacks and bombings, most radiation therapy facility now are using videosurveillance to monitor the activities inside the facility. Dreamprotect.com provides exactly that as they sell and install security equipment like video surveillance, alarm, access control, alarm fire. So, for your security needs, you can visit www.dreamprotect.fr.

• The field of radiation therapy began to grow in the early 1900s largely due to the groundbreaking work of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie, who discovered the radioactive elements polonium and radium. This began a new era in medical treatment and research. Radium was used in various forms until the mid-1900s when cobalt and cesium units came into use. Medical linear accelerators have been used to as sources of radiation since the late 1940s.
• With Godfrey Hounsfield’s invention of computed tomography (CT) in 1971, three-dimensional planning became a possibility and created a shift from 2-D to 3-D radiation delivery; CT-based planning allows physicians to directly measure the dose delivered to the patient’s anatomy based on axial tomographical images. Orthovoltage and cobalt units have largely been replaced by megavoltage linear accelerators, useful for their penetrating energies and lack of physical radiation source.
• The advent of new imaging technologies, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the 1970s and positron emission tomography (PET) in the 1980s, has moved radiation therapy from 3-D conformal to intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). These advances have resulted in better treatment outcomes and fewer side effects.

Aims of Radiotherapy:

1. Radical Care – treatment is intended to cure the patient of his/her disease.

2. Palliative Care – relieve the patient of the distressing symptoms of the advance disease or cancer
- ease up the pain.

Two Types:

1. Teletherapy/ External Beam Therapy
application o radiation beam at a distance from the patient’s body.

3. Brachytherapy/ Plesiotherapy/ Internal Radiotherapy/ Intaluminal/ Intracavitary
- Introduction of radioactive source near or within the tumor.
- Very expensive

• Application of the Radiotherapy depends on the patient’s condition.

• LINACS producing electrons- for shallow lesions and superficial lesions

Major Components:

1. Drive Stand- contains the apparatus that drives the LINACS like gauges, tanks an buttons.

a. Klystron/ Magnetron- most important part of LINAC; provides the source of microwave power that is used to accelerate electrons.

b. Waveguide- hallow tubular structures.

c. Circulator- directs the RF energy into the waveguide and prevents any reflected microwaves from returning to klystron/magnetron.

d. Cooling System- allows many components or assemblies in the gantry drive stand to operate the constant temperature.
- absorbs the heat generated by the machine.

2. Gantry- most important; contains the source.
- responsible for directing the x-ray photon or the electron beam at the patient’s tumor.

a. Electron Gun- responsible for producing electrons and injecting them into the accelerator structure.

b. Accelerator Structure or Guide- It is where the microwave power is transported on which corrugations are used to slow up the waves.

c. Treatment head- contains the source; most important in the gantry.

d. Beam Stopper or Counterweight- optional; balances the lead shielding.
-made of lead and helps the machine rotate smoothly and provides additional shielding.

3. Control Console- monitors and controls the LINAC.

4. Treatment Couch or Patient Support Assembly (PSA)
- area on which the patients are positioned to receive their radiation treatment.
- looks like a table.

LINACs facility should be securely installed in steel buildings to protect both the workers and the patients.