Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear medicine is the medical specialty that uses internally administered radioactive materials, called radioisotopes, to help diagnose and treat a wide variety of diseases.
As part of World War II’s top secret Manhattan Project, the building of nuclear reactors at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, eventually led to a new, cheaper source of medical radioisotopes after the war ended in August 1945. The Atomic Energy Act, passed by Congress on August 1, 1946, created the Atomic Energy Commission. This act enabled the peaceful production of medical isotopes in an Oak Ridge reactor. The modern era of nuclear medicine had begun.

The Early Years: European Beginnings
As with most discoveries and inventions, the past work of many paved the way to today.

French Physicist discovered radioactivity in 1896. Over a hundred years ago, in early 1896, the French physicist, Henri Becquerel, discovered that a mysterious X-ray was produced by uranium. Becquerel’s achievement was itself based on the work of the German scientist, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, who had discovered X-rays only a few months earlier in November 1895.

German physicist who discovered X-rays in 1895.
Soon after Röntgen’s original discovery of X-rays in late 1895, others had begun investigating the possibility that the mysterious rays could kill germs. It was quickly noted that the rays would kill tuberculosis, diphtheria, and other bacteria. Certain types of cancers also could be destroyed by the powerful rays. Unfortunately, the rarity and very high cost of radium hampered the work of these scientists.

French physicist who, along with his wife Marie Sklodowska Curie, isolated polonium and radium in 1898.

The winner of two Nobel Prizes for her achievements in physics and chemistry. Pierre Curie was a Professor of Physics at the Sorbonne. He was a good friend of Becquerel, who was the head of the Physics Department at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris.

In 1897, Curie’s young bride, Marie (Marja Sklodowska) became Becquerel’s assistant and took on the study of X-rays from uranium as her doctoral thesis. Marie found that some of the components of uranium were even more radioactive than uranium itself. By 1898 Pierre had abandoned his own work to join his wife in her search for the source of the baffling rays produced by uranium. Madame Curie called the mysterious rays “radioactivity.”

That July, the Curies announced the isolation of a radioactive element from uranium. They named their discovery polonium (Po-210) in honor of Marie’s birthplace, Poland. Then, in December 1898, the couple discovered yet another radioactive element from uranium - one that glowed, gave off heat, and was much more radioactive than uranium. The Curies named this exciting new element radium (Ra-226). In 1903, Marie and Pierre, along with Becquerel, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work.

After its discovery by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898, radium was considered a “cure-all” until the early 1920s. This large pottery crock was lined with radium ore. Instructions on the jar suggest that you fill it every night with water and drink an average of six or more glasses daily. After its discovery by Pierre and Marie Curie in 1898, radium was considered a “cure-all” until the early 1920s.

20th Century Nuclear Medicine Pioneers

Hungarian-Danish chemist who won the 1943 Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing radioactive isotopes as laboratory tracers.

American physicist who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics for the invention of the cyclotron.
In 1929, Ernest O. Lawrence, working at the University of California at Berkeley, invented the cyclotron which could create a number of radioisotopes that are useful in biological and medical work.

Glenn T. Seaborg and John J. Livingood departing the University of California at Berkeley through Sather Gate. Along with Fred Fairbrother, they first produced iron-59 in 1937. Using an advanced cyclotron, scientists John Livingood, Fred Fairbrother, and Glenn T. Seaborg produced iron-59 (Fe-59) in 1937. Iron-59 was useful in the studies of the hemoglobin in human blood. In 1938, iodine-131 (I-131) was discovered by Livingood and Seaborg. Iodine-131 is used across the world to treat thyroid disease.

Dr. Glenn Seaborg was considered one of the “founding fathers” of nuclear medicine. Dr. Seaborg was the most prolific discoverer of radioisotopes that are used today in diagnosis and treatment. Seaborg was active in the field up until the time of his death in 1999.

Italian physicist who was co-winner of the 1959 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery of the antiproton. Working with Seaborg, they discovered technetium-99m in 1938.
In 1938, Seaborg and Emilio Segre discovered technetium-99m (Tc-99m). Today, Tc-99m is the most widely used radioisotope in nuclear medicine.

A “Father of Nuclear Medicine” and first president of the Society of Nuclear Medicine. Dr. Marshall Brucer, also a “founding father” of nuclear medicine, had tremendous influence on the development of this rapidly expanding discipline. He was the first president of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, the world’s largest organization of nuclear medicine professionals.

American inventor of the scintillation scanning camera in 1958. Hal Anger revolutionized the field of nuclear medicine with his development of the gamma camera in the late 1950s. He also developed the well counter, widely used in laboratory tests with small samples of radioactive materials.