History of Radiation

Section 2 Part I

At the end of the 19th century, many scientists did not realize they were on the edge of a revolution in physics…

“The most important fundamental laws and facts of physical science have all been discovered, and these are now so firmly established that the possibility of their ever being supplanted in consequence of new discoveries is exceedingly remote… Our future discoveries must be looked for in the sixth place of the decimals.”

-- Albert Michelson, 1894

Radiation Chronicle

• 1789 - The element uranium was discovered by Martin Klaproth

• 1869 - Dmitri Mendeleyev developed the periodic law of elements, which later evolved in the Table of Elelments.

• 1885 - Balmer publishes an empirical formula that gives the observed wavelength of hydrogen light spectra

• 1890 - Thorium is first used in mantles for camping lanterns

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2

11

nR

1895 - Wilhelm Roentgen

• Discovered X-rays on 8th November 1895

• The World immediately realised their medical potential

• Won Nobel Prize in 1901

1896 - Henri Becquerel

• Discovered radioactivity on 26 February 1896

• “Some atoms give off energy in form of rays. Uranium gives off radiation.”

• Shared Nobel Prize in 1903 with P. Curie.

Frau Roentgen’s hand, 1895

X-rays was quickly put to clinical use

1896 (Pupin in New York City): using a screen as well as film for advanced x-ray imaging.

Dr Rome Wagner and assistant

Radiation Chronicle - cont.• 1897 - J.J. Thomson discovers the electron.• 1898 - Marie and Pierre Curie discover the first radioactive

elements: radium and polonium. Radioactivity is named by Marie Curie. Marie Won Nobel Prize in 1911 for discovery of radium and polonium.

• 1899 - Ernest Rutherford concludes that radiation can be divided into two types: alpha and beta rays. Won Nobel Prize in 1908.

• 1900 - Pierre Curie observes another type of radiation - the gamma rays. Shared Nobel Prize in 1903 with Becquirel.

• 1905 - Albert Einstein develops the theory about relationship between mass and energy: E = mc2. Won Nobel Prize in 1919 for discovery of photoeffect.

• 1911 - Ernest Rutherford discovers that most of an atom is empty space and identifies the atomic nucleus

• 1911 - George de Hevesy conceives the idea of using radio tracers - applied later to medical diagnosis. (Won a Nobel Prize in 1943)

• 1913 - Niels Bohr introduces the first atom model, the mini solar system.

Radiation Chronicle - cont.• 1913 - Hans Geiger invents the Geiger counter form measuring

radioactivity.• 1913 - Frederick Proesher publishes the first study on the

intravenous injection of radium for therapy of various diseases.• 1920 - Ernest Rutherford discovered and named the proton.• 1927 - Herman Blumgart, a Boston physician, first uses

radioactive tracers to diagnose heart disease.• 1932 - James Chadwick discovers the neutron. Won Nobel Prize

in 1935.• 1932 - Ernest O. Lawrence and M. Stanley Livingston publish

the first article on "the production of high speed light ions without the use of high voltages." It is a milestone in the production of usable quantities of radionuclides. E. Lawrence wan Nobel Prize in 1939 - cyclotron.

• 1934 - Irene and Frederic Joliot-Curie discover artificial radioactivity. In 1935 - Irene and Frederic Joliot-Curie receive Nobel Prize for creating the first artificial radioactive isotope.

Radiation Chronicle - cont.• 1935 - Nuclear medicine comes into existance when cyclotron-

produced radioisotopes and nuclear radiation becomes available in the U.S.

• 1936 - John H. Lawrence, the brother of Ernest, makes the first clinical therapeutic application of an artificial radionuclide when he uses phosphorus-32 to treat leukemia.

• 1937 - John Livingood, Fred Fairbrother and Glenn Seaborg discover iron-59. 1938 John Livingood and Glenn Seaborg discover iodine-131 and cobalt-60 - all isotopes currently used in nuclear medicine. G. Seaborg shared Nobel Prize with MacMillan in 1951.

• 1938 - Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman, produce lighter elements by bombarding uranium with neutrons. Irene Joliot-Curie and Pavle Savich notice the same effect. However, it was Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch that recognized it as splitting of the atom - “fission”. O. Hahn won a Nobel Prize in 1944.

• 1938 - Enrico Fermi won a Nobel Prize forproduction of new elements by neutron irradiation.

Radiation Chronicle - cont.• 1939 - The principles of a nuclear chain reaction demonstrated.

They take a first patent on the production of nuclear energy. The principle of nuclear reactors was first recorded and sealed in an envelope where it remains secret during the WWII. Irene and Frederic Joliot-Curie

• 1939 - Emilio Segre and Glenn Seaborg discover technetium-99m - an isotope currently used in nuclear medicine.

• 1939 - U.S. Advisory Committee on Uranium recommends a program to develop an atomic bomb (this is later named the Manhattan Project).

• 1940 - The Rockefeller Foundation funds the first cyclotron dedicated for biomedical radioisotope production at Washington University in St. Louis.

• 1942 - The Manhattan Project is formed to secretly build the atomic bomb before the Nazis.

• 1942 - Fermi demonstrates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction

in a lab at the University of Chicago. • 1942 - The United States drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Japan surrenders.

First Reports of Injury

Late 1896

Elihu Thomson - burns from deliberate exposure of a finger to X-rays

Edison’s assistant - hair fell out & scalp became inflamed & ulcerated

Mihran Kassabian (1870-1910)

Sister Blandina (1871 - 1916)

1898, started work as radiographer in Cologne

held nervous patients & children with unprotected hands

controlled the degree of hardness of the X-ray tube by placing her hand behind of the screen.

Sister Blandina

After 6 months strong flushing & swellings of hands

diagnosed with an X-ray cancer,

some fingers amputated

then whole hand amputated

whole arm amputated.

1915 severed difficulties of breathing

extensive shadow on the left side of her thorax

large wound on her whole front- and back-side

Died on 22nd October 1916.

First Radiotherapy TreatmentEmil Herman Grubbé

• 29 January 1896

• woman (50) with breast cancer

• 18 daily 1-hour irradiation

• condition was relieved

• died shortly afterwards from metastases.

William Rollins

• Rollins W. X-light kills. Boston Med Surg J 1901;144:173.

• Codman EA. No practical danger from the x-ray. Boston Med Surg J 1901;144:197

Early Protective Suit

•Lead glasses

•Filters

•Tube shielding

•Early personal “dosemeters”

•etc.

Protection Progress

• 1898 Roentgen Society Committee of Inquiry

• 1915 Roentgen Society publishes recommendations

• 1921 British X-Ray and Radiation Protection Committee established and issue reports

• 1928 2nd International Congress of Radiology adopts British recommendations + the Roentgen

• 1931 USACXRP publishes the first recommendations (0.2 r/d)

• 1934 4th ICR adopts 0.2 Roentgens per day limit

Life Span Study

• About 94,000 persons, • > 50% still alive in 1995• By 1991 about 8,000 cancer deaths 430 of these attributable to radiation• 21 out of 800 in utero with dose > 10

mSv severely mentally retarded individuals have been identified

• No increase in hereditary disease• http://www.rerf.or.jp/eigo/glossary/lsspopul.htm

Theory came later : Birth of planetary model – Part I: Rutherford

• 1900: Alpha, beta and gamma rays are known

• 1909 Rutherford conclude from bombarding thin gold foils with alpha particles (Po(214-84)):– Large angle deflection seen in 1/8000 alpha

particles suggests the existence of a very small and massive nucleus

– Proposed the planetary model• We now know:

– Rnuc ~ 1.3 A1/3 x 10-15 m– Ratom ~ 1.5 x 10-10 m

Part II: Bohr’s hydrogen atom - 1913

• Bohr was not satisfied from classical mechanics in the planetary model– Unstable model, since an accelerated charge will

emit light and therefore lose E

• Bohr postulates the first semi-classical model– Angular momentum of electron is quantized:

• mvr = nħ

– Then energy and orbital radii are also quantized (derive radius on the board)

• rn = 0.529 n2/Z (Å)

• En = -13.6 Z2/n2 (eV)

Problem with Bohr’s model and classical mechanics

• Could only predict correctly the energy levels of H.

• The dual behavior of light (particle and wave) could not be explained by classical mechanics

• The approach of Bohr of mixing classical mechanic with quantizing certain variables was suddenly heavily used – other accurate predictions were made with

new Semi-classical or relativistic models– Prelude for Quantum Mechanics

Birth of Quantum Mechanics: 1925• Simultaneously and independently:

– Heizenberg realized that the reason Bohr’s model failed was that it was trying to predict none observable variables (position, speed)

– Heizenberg actually created a model focusing on measurable variable: Balm wave length:

• Showed that p.x ≥ħ or E.t ≥ħ• This is the Heizenberg uncertainty principle, stating

that it is impossible to measure precisely the speed and location of a particle

• Also showed that x.px was different from px.x. Others showed in this a typical matrix property and called Heizenberg model the MATRIX MECHANICS

– Schroendiger established a law defined by a differential equation that describes matter as a wave (D2X and Dt)

– Later, Schroendiger equation will be formalized by linear algebra and matrix simplification

Pauli principle: No two electrons in an atom can be in the same state

• Quantization came naturally out of quantum mechanics

• Four quantum numbers fully described the electron energy levels (derive atomic layer on the board)– Principal quantum number : n

• Describes the orbital shells – n=1, 2 and 3 for K, L and M shells respectively

• Corresponds to Bohr’s angular momentum quantization– Azimuthal quantum number: l

• Fine structure (sommerfeld shows that elliptical orbits in relativity implies this quantization)

– l = 0, 1, 2, …, n– Magnetic quantum number: m

• An electron orbiting a nucleus is a current that produces a magnetic field affecting the atom magnetic field

– m = [-l, l]– Intrinsic spin of electron: s

– s = [-1/2, ½]

Summary on Atomic Structure

Nucleus Contains protons and neutrons Small Size Relatively large mass Extremely large density Large amount of stored energy

Orbiting Electrons Large size Low density Orbit nucleus near speed of light Small amount of energy relative to nucleus Responsible for chemical bonds

Nomenclature for Elements"X" = Element Symbol

"Z" = # ProtonsEach element has a unique "Z”

"N” = # Neutrons

Atomic Mass # = "A""A" = Z + N = # Protons + # Neutrons

Isotope: same Z, different N, thus different A

XA

Z

Continuous and characteristic X-rays High Voltage

Power Supply

Tungsten Filament

Target

Glass Envelope

Tube Housing

CathodeAnode

Current

High Voltage

Power Supply

Tungsten Filament

Target

Glass Envelope

Tube Housing

CathodeAnode

Current

• Roentgen discovered that electron that hit a target produces photons

• Higher the A of the target, the more efficient the X-ray production

• Range of energy of photon: [0,E of incident e-]

X-rays production

• Electron can produce photons in two ways:– Slowing down of incident

electron when hitting target emits photons with minimum wave length:

• = 12400 (Å.eV)/Ee

– K shell electron of target ejected

• L e- fills it: K• M e- fills it: K

The Auger electron• Non-radiative phenomenon• Incident electron can eject a K shell electron

– Then and L electron makes a transition to fill K shell vacancy without emitting a photon

– Instead, this energy leads to the ejection of another L shell electron, leading to two missing electron in the target atom

– This can trigger a cascade of Auger electrons