Radiotherapy equipment
Object No. 2008/108/1
Radiotherapy revolutionised the treatment of cancer. These objects, used in treating carcinomas through the 1950s, and then by the donor as teaching aids at Sydney Hospital in the 1960s, represent the use of radiation to stem and even reverse the growth of tumours in patients. They are important examples of therapeutic equipment used in the treatment of cancer prior to widely available electronic radiotherapy equipment. The objects are representative of equipment used in a form of radiotherapy known as brachytherapy. In this treatment a small amount of radon, a radioactive element, is encased in metal 'seeds' or 'needles' and inserted into or close to the tumour, either directly or in an appropriate applicator. As the radon decayed, it emitted gamma radiation, which can destroy the tissue around it. This treatment was pioneered early in the history of radiotherapy and is still practised today for some cancers; radon has been replaced by other radioactive isotopes that are more convenient to produce and handle. It is poignant that the radioactive material used to treat nasal cancers was stored by the donor in a cigarette tin. Smoking cigarettes is a leading cause of cancer and has been implicated in nasal cancer in both active and passive smokers. Damian McDonald Curator March 2008
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Summary
Object Statement
Radiotherapy equipment, various materials, various makers, various places of production, used at Sydney Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, c. 1950
Physical Description
Radiotherapy equipment: a safe compartment for radioactive material, nasal application pieces (6) in cigarette tin, mouthpieces (2), vaginal pieces (9), radon seeds in ampoules (2) in jar, radon needles (3) in matchbox, spool of silk suture, suture needle, thin sheets of lead (4), mock-up of a radium rod, and handwritten dosage information. The safe compartment for radioactive material is a long, rectangular aluminium tube with an internal lead lining. It has a sliding panel that allows access to the rebate in which the radioactive material is stored. The end of the sliding panel over-hangs the compartment and has a hole drilled through it so it can be secured with a locking device. A radium rod stored in the compartment could be used as a source of radon gas. The nasal applicators comprise four variously sized hollow metal tubes in which radium is inserted, an applicator bent at a slight angle with a thread on one end for securing the tubes into the nasal cavity, a hollow tube hinged in the middle, and handwritten instructions for dosages. All are stored in a Benson and Hedges cigarette tin. The tin also contains four sheets of very thin lead, probably used as shielding, and a suture needle. The mouthpieces are custom moulded for a particular patient's mouth. They are pink in colour and have a lead-lined rebate in which radium was loaded to treat carcinomas of the mouth. The vaginal pieces are black latex applicators in which radon seeds are inserted and sewn in. The pieces were inserted via the vagina under general anaesthetic to treat carcinomas of the uterus. There is also a spool of silk suture with the applicators. The two glass ampoules in the plastic jar are the size and shape of oral pharmaceutical capsules and contain radon seeds. Each seed contained a quantity of radon gas sealed with gold, but the radon would have decayed to lead long ago. The ampoules are attached to string with masking tape. Also in the plastic jar is a mock-up of manufactured medical radium, a small metal rod with a piece of string threaded through a hole drilled in one end. The three radon needles are gold-sealed and are the size of sewing pins. They were used to treat carcinomas of the tongue. They are wrapped in tissue paper and stored in a cardboard matchbox.
DIMENSIONS
Height
200 mm
Width
200 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
The radiotherapy equipment was made by various unknown manufacturers. The mouthpieces were custom-made at the Sydney Hospital by medical technicians.
HISTORY
Notes
The donor of these objects was a Registered Nurse and Registered Radiographer at Sydney Hospital from the late 1950s to the 1970s. She used these objects to train staff in the use of radiotherapy equipment. Later, when she was a teacher in the technical and further education (TAFE) system, she used them as examples of earlier methods of radiotherapy treatments.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Ms Margaret Manny, 2008
Acquisition Date
26 May 2008
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