Coolidge X-ray tube
Date
Circa 1917
Description
The Coolidge tube was an early apparatus used to produce X-rays for treating cancer. It was invented by William Coolidge in 1913 to improve the reliability of previous X-ray generating equipment by introducing a heated cathode as the electron source. The Coolidge tube consists of an evacuated glass envelope containing at one end a cathode and at the other, a tungsten anode. When a high voltage is applied across the ends of the tube, the electrons are accelerated into the anode, and the interaction produces X-rays, their maximum energy determined by the magnitude of the voltage. The X-rays are transmitted through the glass envelope, which can become discoloured as a result.
This Coolidge X-ray tube was donated by the Commonwealth X-ray and Radium laboratory in 1961. It would have been used in a laboratory setting and not for treating patients - it would have needed to be positioned around the patient at different angles - as compact as possible which is why linear accelerators were so important as they could treat with higher dosages of radiation in more compact form.
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