What is the half life of Cobalt 60?
cobalt-60, radioactive isotope of cobalt used in industry and medicine. Cobalt-60 is the longest-lived isotope of cobalt, with a half-life of 5.27 years. It is produced by irradiating the stable isotope cobalt-59 with neutrons in a nuclear reactor.
How does cobalt affect the body?
These cobalt treatment side effects include:
- Burnt or blistered skin
- Hair loss
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Reduced white blood cell count
- Damage to the reproductive organs
What type of radiation is Cobalt 60?
Cobalt-60 emits Beta and Gamma Rays. Where Beta radiation is present, shielding may be required. Cobalt-60 is unstable and in trying to become stable it emits a beta-particle and two photons of gamma radiation. An isotope of nickel will remain.
Is Cobalt 60 radioactive?
The commonly used sources of radiation are cobalt-60, a radioactive element emitting γ-rays, or an accelerator producing a beam of electrons. Cobalt-60 is produced by neutron bombardment of stable cobalt in a nuclear reactor.
Why is cobalt-60 used for cancer treatment?
Cobalt therapy is the medical use of gamma rays from the radioisotope cobalt-60 to treat conditions such as cancer. Beginning in the 1950s, cobalt-60 was widely used in external beam radiotherapy (teletherapy) machines, which produced a beam of gamma rays which was directed into the patient's body to kill tumor tissue.
Is cobalt-60 used for cancer?
Cobalt 60 (60Co) is often the ideal mode of radiation for treating laryngeal cancer.
Is cobalt still used to treat cancer?
Cobalt-60 technology is currently used to treat roughly 70 per cent of the world's cancer cases treated by radiation. LHSC's last Cobalt treatment was delivered in 2004.
How was cobalt-60 used medically?
Co-60 is used medically for radiation therapy as implants and as an external source of radiation exposure. It is used industrially in leveling gauges and to x-ray welding seams and other structural elements to detect flaws. Co-60 also is used for food irradiation, a sterilization process.
Which element is used in treatment of cancer?
Cobalt therapy or cobalt -60 therapy is the medical use of gamma rays from the radioisotope cobalt -60 to treat conditions such as cancer.
Who invented cancer treatment using cobalt-60?
Leading innovation in cancer treatment In 1951, University of Saskatchewan medical physicist Dr. Harold Johns and his graduate students became the first researchers in the world to successfully treat a cancer patient using cobalt-60 radiation therapy.
Why is cobalt-60 no longer used?
Cobalt and Health Because it decays by gamma radiation, external exposure to Co-60 can increase cancer risk. Most Co-60 that is ingested is excreted in feces; however, a small amount is absorbed by the liver, kidneys and bones.
What isotopes are used for cancer?
Yttrium-90 is used for treatment of cancer, particularly non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and liver cancer, and it is being used more widely, including for arthritis treatment. Lu-177 and Y-90 are becoming the main RNT agents. Iodine-131, samarium-153, and phosphorus-32 are also used for therapy.
What is cobalt treatment for breast cancer?
Radiotherapy can be delivered with a cobalt-60 unit or a linear accelerator (linac). In early stage breast cancer, radiotherapy is an integral part of breast-conserving treatment.
Why is cobalt-60 used to sterilize medical equipment?
Cold Process Sterilization The reason why Cobalt-60 is the most suitable for radiation processing is because of the relatively high energy of their gamma rays and fairly long half-life which is 5.27 years.
How does cobalt-60 Sterilise medical equipment?
The gamma irradiation process uses Cobalt 60 radiation to kill microorganisms on a variety of different products in a specially designed cell. Gamma radiation is generated by the decay of the radioisotope Cobalt 60, with the resultant high energy photons being an effective sterilant.
What is cobalt used for?
Cobalt is commonly used in electroplating because of its appearance, hardness, and resistance to oxidation. Cobalt compounds have been used for centuries to create a rich blue color in glass, glazes, ceramics, porcelain, pottery, tiles, and enamels.
What are the side effects of cobalt radiation?
Side effectsacid reflux.burn.chronic fatigue.chronic idiopathic axonal polyneuropathy.dry mouth.dry scalp.
Is uranium used for cancer treatment?
The Actinium-225 present in the Uranium-233 can be extracted and used in therapies to treat certain forms of cancer, like Acute Myeloid Leukemia, with extraordinary results.
What is the activity of Cobalt-60?
Cobalt-60, produced by neutron irradiation of ordinary cobalt metal in a reactor, is a high activity gamma ray emitter, emitting 1.17 and 1.33 MeV gamma rays with an activity of 44 TBq /g (about 1100 Ci /g).
When was the first cobalt 60 treatment?
The first patient to be treated with cobalt-60 radiation was treated on October 27, 1951, at the War Memorial Children's Hospital in London, Ontario. In 1961 cobalt therapy was expected to replace X-ray radiotherapy. In 1966, Walt Disney 's lung cancer was treated with this procedure, but could not prevent his death.
What is cobalt therapy?
Specialty. oncology. [ edit on Wikidata] Cobalt therapy is the medical use of gamma rays from the radioisotope cobalt-60 to treat conditions such as cancer. Beginning in the 1950s, cobalt-60 was widely used in external beam radiotherapy (teletherapy) machines, which produced a beam of gamma rays which was directed into the patient's body ...
Why were cobalt machines used in radiotherapy?
Because these "cobalt machines" were expensive and required specialist support, they were often housed in cobalt units. Cobalt therapy was a revolutionary advance in radiotherapy in the post-World War II period but is now being replaced by other technologies such as linear accelerators.
How much energy does cobalt 60 have?
As used in radiotherapy, cobalt units produce stable, dichromatic beams of 1.17 and 1.33 MeV, resulting in an average beam energy of 1.25 MeV. The cobalt-60 isotope has a half-life of 5.3 years so the cobalt-60 needs to be replaced occasionally.
What was the only radiation source used for teletherapy?
Before the development of medical linear accelerators in the 1970s, the only artificial radiation source used for teletherapy was the x-ray tube. Researchers found ordinary x-ray tubes, which used voltages of 50-150 keV, could treat superficial tumors, but did not have the energy to reach tumors deep in the body.
Where was the Cobalt 60 made?
Two cobalt-60 apparatuses were then built, one in Saskatoon in the cancer wing of the University of Saskatchewan and the other in London, Ontario. Dr. Johns collected depth-dose data at the University of Saskatchewan which would later become the world standard.
What is cobalt 60 used for?
Industrial cobalt-60 irradiators are primarily used for food or phytosanitary applications and medical device sterilization. They operate in either continuous or, less commonly, in a large batch mode, and products to be irradiated come in pallets or tote boxes.
How long does cobalt 60 last?
Cobalt-60 decays continuously. The time taken to lose 50% of its initial activity, i.e., its half-life, is 5.26 years. Usually 10% of the cobalt-60 is replenished annually.
What is the most widely used source of gamma radiation?
Cobalt-60 (60Co) and caesium-137 ( 137 Cs) are the most widely used sources of gamma radiation. 60 Co produces gamma rays with energies of 1.173 and 1.332 MeV and has a half-life of 5.27 years, whereas 137 Cs produces gamma rays with an energy of 0.662 MeV and has a longer half-life of 30.1 years. For both isotopes, the gamma rays energies are not high enough to induce radioactivity in the irradiated products, which would otherwise be a serious disadvantage to a sterilisation process. In industrial practice, the use of 137 Cs has been limited to small self-contained, dry storage irradiators used primarily for the irradiation of blood and for insect sterilisation.
How is Cobalt-60 produced?
Cobalt-60 is produced by neutron bombardment of stable cobalt in a nuclear reactor . Small nickel-plated slugs of the radioactive metal are loaded into a sealed alloy cylinder typically 10 × 450 mm and doubly encapsulated in a corrosion-resistant steel pencil. An array of such pencils is built into a rack typically 1–2 m 2.
What is 60 Co?
Historically, 60 Co was one of the first radionuclides used in eye plaques; there were some known and documented disadvantages. The 60 Co does not come in a small seedlike form, but rather as a plaque, sealed in platinum, shaped to conform to the sclera ( Chiu-Tsao et al., 1986 ).
Can X-rays be used for sterilisation?
In principle, X-rays may also be used for sterilisation. For example, high- energy electrons produced by an accelerator could be used to produce high- energy photons (e.g., X-rays produced by bombarding a tungsten target).
Can 6 MV photons underdose?
Historically, great concern has been expressed that 6-MV photons have too large a buildup region and can potentially underdose superficial tissues. Most radiation oncology centers have only linear accelerators. If a 60 Co unit is not available, 4-MV photon beams are adequate. However, the lowest energy of units at many centers is 6-MV photons.
What is CO-60 used for?
Co-60 also is used for food irradiation, a sterilization process.
How is Co-60 produced?
Radioactive Co-60 is produced commercially through linear acceleration for use in medicine and industry. Co-60 also is a byproduct of nuclear reactor operations, when metal structures, such as steel rods, are exposed to neutron radiation.
What happens if you eat Co-60?
Because it decays by gamma radiation, external exposure to large sources of Co-60 can cause skin burns, acute radiation sickness, or death. Most Co-60 that is ingested is excreted in the feces; however, a small amount is absorbed by the liver, kidneys, and bones.
Is Co-60 a solid or a powder?
Co-60 occurs as a solid material and might appear as small metal disks or in a tube, enclosed at both ends, that holds the small disks. Co-60 can occur as a powder if the solid sources have been ground or damaged.
