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The machine that made curative radiotherapy widely available from the 1950s: a sealed cobalt-60 source in a rotating head. Linacs replaced it in rich countries, but cobalt units still treat many patients where power and servicing are unreliable.
The first cobalt-60 units were installed in Canada in 1951 and for thirty years were the workhorse of radiotherapy worldwide, delivering megavoltage gamma rays with far better depth dose than the X-ray tubes before them. Linear accelerators, with sharper beams, higher output and no decaying source, replaced them in high-income countries from the 1980s. Cobalt units remain in service in many low- and middle-income countries because they need little electricity and maintenance, though their source replacement and security are growing concerns and the IAEA is helping countries move to linacs.
A high-activity cobalt-60 source emits 1.25 MeV gamma rays; the shielded head rotates around the patient to deliver megavoltage external beam therapy.
Query for this technology: (TITLE:"Cobalt-60 teletherapy" OR ABSTRACT:"Cobalt-60 teletherapy") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Cobalt-60 teletherapy, not a curated reading list.
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