Blasting tumours, building an atomic nation

The Theratron Junior marks the development of Canadian expertise in nuclear medicine, a field that quickly emerged after the Second World War. Canadian scientists had gained nuclear experience during the wartime Manhattan Project, which produced the world’s first atomic weapons. Turning to peacetime medicine, researchers at Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario, and at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon separately developed Cobalt 60 technology, creating machines that killed cancerous cells with precise bursts of radiation.

First commercialized by Eldorado Mining and Refining Ltd, Cobalt 60 machines were later produced by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL), a Crown corporation established in 1952 to direct Canada’s nuclear program. AECL produced the Theratron and introduced the Theratron Junior in 1956. Simpler than the Theratron, the Junior was marketed to smaller hospitals and developing countries. It featured a built-in patient couch and rotating head that helped medical staff target tumours. The Theratron Junior was also painted in a calming, therapeutic colour, “Sea Foam Green.” Such products helped AECL become a world leader in commercial nuclear technology and supported Canada’s advocacy for peaceful uses of nuclear power.

The name Theratron is a combination of therapy and -tron, a Greek suffix that means instrument. This Theratron Junior (serial no. 15) treated cancer patients at Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Hospital in Binghamton, New York, between 1956 and 1969.