IEEE Milestone Dedication: Cobalt-60 Radiation Cancer Treatment Machines, 1951

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IEEE Milestone Dedication: Cobalt-60 Radiation Cancer Treatment Machines, 1951

The Dedication Ceremony will establish an "IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing" by the installation of plaques commemorating the development and first uses of Cobalt-60 cancer treatment machines in Saskatoon, SK, and London, ON, in 1951.  The Saskatoon host location will be the Saskatchewan Cyclotron Facility, managed by the Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation, who continue to "...apply nuclear science in order to advance medical health and environmental sustainability for the benefit of society...", and to recognize Dr. Sylvia Fedoruk and other members of the  scientific team in Saskatchewan.

Abstract:
The development and use of cobalt-60 cancer treatment machines made a significant and positive contribution to health care worldwide. While X rays produced by X-ray tubes had been used for cancer treatment since the 1920s, their energy was not sufficiently high to achieve adequate and focused penetration to deep-seated lesions in the body. Radium sources had been used with some success but was very expensive. Dr. Harold Johns, a Canadian medical physicist, recognized that cobalt-60, which could be produced in a nuclear reactor, had a long enough half-life and emissions of sufficient strength to potentially replace radium. He provided the guiding force that led to development of a suitable source, a machine to contain it, and a methodology and data to control it that were still required before this potential could be realized in a practical setting. Development and calibration of a cobalt-60 radiation therapy machine proved effective for treatment of deep-seated tumours, and in 1951 two teams of medical physicists, engineers, and radiation oncologists in London (Ontario) and Saskatoon (Saskatchewan), independently, yet cooperatively, designed the first cobalt-60 radiation treatment machines or “cobalt bombs”. These machines directed gamma radiation directly on cancerous tumours. The first use of the cobalt treatment was on 27 October 1951 at Victoria Hospital, London. Decades of effective worldwide use and the many millions of lives extended have proven the efficacy of this technology and the benefit to humanity.

  Date and Time

  Location

  Hosts

  Registration


  • Add_To_Calendar_icon Add Event to Calendar
  • 120 Maintenance Road
  • University of Saskatchewan Campus
  • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • Canada S7N 5C4
  • Building: Saskatchewan Cyclotron Facility
  • Room Number: N/A
  • Click here for Map
  • Contact Event Host

  • Denard Lynch, LSMIEEE

    denard.lynch@ieee.org

    +1 306 227-3115

  • Co-sponsored by Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation, Inc.
  • Starts 02 September 2025 06:01 AM UTC
  • Ends 24 September 2025 03:00 PM UTC
  • No Admission Charge

  Speakers

Denard of IEEE North Saskatchewan Section

Topic:

Introduction and Background

Biography:

Denard has been an IEEE member for over 50 years, and is currently a Life Senior Member of IEEE.  He has volunteered in a variety positions within the North Saskatchewan Section, IEEE Canada and the IEEE Canadian Foundation.  Denard has been involved in the two IEEE Milestones established in Saskatoon, and was a co-proposer for this Cobalt-60 Radiation Cancer Treatment Machines Milestone.

Email:

Address:Saskatoon

Jeter of Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation, Inc.

Topic:

The Fedoruk Centre: Cobalt-60 legacy and Related Research

Biography:

Dr. Jeter Hall (PhD) was named executive director of the Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation Inc. (Fedoruk Centre) at USask, effective July 2, 2025. Hall, the former director of research at SNOLAB, has stepped into the new role in the Fedoruk Centre following the planned departure of long-serving Executive Director Dr. John Root (PhD). Hall completed his PhD at the University of Utah and since 2017 was the leader of one of Canada’s premier facilities for astro-particle research at SNOLAB, heading the research group, project management office and scientific support team.

Email:

Address:Saskatoon, Canada





Agenda

10:00 AM: Welcome - Denard Lynch, MC)

10:05 AM: Introduction - Milestone Committee representative from IEEE North Saskatchewan Section (Denard Lynch)

10:15 AM: Remarks - Representative from host organization from Sylvia Fedoruk Centre (Jeter Hall)

10:25 AM: Closing Remarks, thank you's, introductions and announcements (Denard Lynch)

10:30 AM: Refreshments 


September 2025