Leonidas D. Marinelli

Leonidas D. Marinelli
Leonidas D. Marinelli
Born (1906-11-28)28 November 1906
Argentina
Died 13 September 1974(1974-09-13) (aged 67)
Hinsdale, DuPage County, Illinois
Alma mater Cooper Union Columbia University]]
Known for Marinelli beaker Founder of field of Human Radiobiology.
Scientific career
Fields Cancer, Human Radiobiology, Spectrometry
Institutions Memorial Hospital
Known today as
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Argonne National Laboratory
Doctoral advisor Gioacchino Failla
Other academic advisors Gioacchino Failla

Leonidas D. Marinelli (28 November 1906 – 13 September 1974), was born in Argentina and died in Hinsdale, DuPage County, Illinois was an American radiologist, health physicist and inventor.[1][2]

Life and Education

Marinelli was born of Italian parents in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 28, 1906, eldest son of 6 children of bank owner Vincenzo Marinelli and Amelia Sammartino Marinelli. At age 11, he returned with widowed mother and children to Agnone, Italy, seat of the Marinelli family bell makers. Leonidas graduated the Volta Institute of Naples, October, 1925, with the gold medal prize for highest honors. In January, 1926, he emigrated to New York City and supported himself as a meter tester while working his way through Cooper Union Night School of Electrical Engineering. In 1929 Dr. Gioacchino Failla, former student of Mme. Marie Curie, hired Marinelli to the biolphysical laboratory at Memorial Cancer Hospital, New York City, known today as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center). Hardly a year later, Leonidas adapted the x-ray roentgen unit for the measurement of low-level gamma ray radiation, not previously quantifiable, which made X-ray and radium radiation comparable by the same unit. By 1933 he coauthored his first publication with Failla, Edith Quimby, and John E. Rose. In 1938 he completed all course requirements for the PhD at Columbia University and had published 5 papers in radiological journals.

Dr. John E. Rose - Health Physicist

Dr. John E. Rose would become Health Physics and radiological physics division director at Argonne. Rose was involved with radiation detection instrumentation, including hand and foot monitors and other detectors. Further note regarding Rose: it was in the Manhattan District of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the name "health physics" was born, and great advances were made in radiation safety. From the beginning, the leaders of the Manhattan District recognized that a new and intense source of radiation and radioactivity would be created, and thus, in the summer of 1942, asked Ernest O. Wollan, a cosmic ray physicist at the University of Chicago, to form a group to study and control radiation hazards. Thus, Wollan was the first to bear the title of health physicist. He was soon joined by Carl G. Gamertsfelder, recently graduated physics baccalaureate, and Herbert M. Parker, the noted British-American medical physicist. By mid 1943, six others had been added: Karl Z. Morgan, James C. Hart, Robert R. Coveyou, Ole G. Landsverk, Ph.D. of the Ryerson Physical Laboratory, University of Chicago, L.A. Pardue and Dr. John E. Rose.[3]

Within the Manhattan District, the name health physicist seems to have been derived in part from the need for secrecy (and hence a code name for radiation protection activities) and the fact that there was a group of mostly physicists working on health related problems. Thus, their activities included development of appropriate monitoring instruments, developing physical controls, administrative procedures, monitoring areas and personnel, and radioactive waste disposal—in short, the entire spectrum of modern-day radiation protection problems. It was in the Manhattan District that many of the modern concepts of protection were born, including the rem unit, which took into account the biological effectiveness of the radiation, and the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) for inhaled radioactivity. Indeed, it was in the Manhattan District that modern day radiation protection effects, born in the early days of x-ray and radium, realized their maturity.[3]

Career and Profession

In 1935 Marinelli became an Assistant Physicist.

In the 1940s Marinelli became an independent scientist. In 1941 his papers dealt with post-irradiation blood studies and with early tracer work on cancer; in 1942 with the production of chromosomal breaks in plant cells and with the theory of time distribution of radiation treatments. In February, 1942, he published the theoretical basis for internal radiation dosimetry that provided the basis for nuclear medicine. In 1946, he published its systematic application to the radioactive treatment of functional cancer of the thyroid. This breakthrough was followed by autoradiography techniques and by a Review of Modern Physics report on beta rays. The explosive growth of radiation medicine enlarged his responsibilities as Head of Physics at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Institute. In 1948 he added to his publication of internal radiation dosimetry the supplementary biological considerations contributed by Edith Quimby. Economic ease permitted him now to enjoy fully his role of husband and father of a wonderful family.

In 1948 he moved to the Argonne National Laboratory, with a position on the University of Chicago faculty. Here, with John Rose, he provided early leadership and scientific direction of the Radiological Physics Division.

Maturity was marked by authorship of textbook articles on dosimetry in the Annual Review of Nuclear Science, in Radiation Biology, and in the Handbook of Medical Radiology. His studies of physics dealt now with electron diffusion from point sources in air and with the cosmic ray background. In radiology he pioneered the detection of minimal burdens of radioactivity in humans, studying their distribution and variation in tissues and the epidemiology of chronic low levels of radiation. The Center for Human Radiobiology, which now has the responsibility for all AEC-supported research on the effects of internally deposited radioisotopes, grew out of his effort.

Nature granted Marinelli a generous amount of vitality and healthy spirits, but then allowed an early onset of health problems that sadly shortened his life and his warm contact that had been enjoyed by all who were blessed to know him.

Inventions and Patents

Marinelli beakers

Marinelli beaker

The following footnote regarding the Marinelli beaker is found in a report by R.F. Hill, G.J. Hine and L.D. Marinelli (1950) of the Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York:
"This equipment first designed by one of the present authors (L.D.M.) and in use in this laboratory since 1943, can now be obtained from Technical Associates, Inc. Glendale, California."[4]

Marinelli glass beaker

Development

In the 1940s and 1950s, the main application of the Marinelli beaker was the analysis of I-131 in liquids (e.g., urine). The original version of the Marinelli beaker, pictured here, consisted of a pyrex/glass laboratory beaker with a central hollow tube projecting from the bottom. A detector, usually a glass GM tube designed for gamma counting, was positioned in the central tube while the beaker was filled with the sample. Since the sample effectively surrounded the detector, the counting efficiency was greater than would be the case if the sample were in any other type of container.[5]

A laboratory often used Marinelli beakers of different sizes - small beakers for small volume samples and large beakers for large volume samples. While it was always possible to increase the volume of a small sample by dilution so that it would fill a large beaker, this sacrificed counting efficiency.[6]

Until the mid-to-late1950's when liquid scintillation countings came along and gamma scintillators (NaI crystals) became larger and more widely available, the major options for counting liquid samples were Marinelli beakers, jacketed (annular) GM tubes, and dipping GM tubes . Since Marinelli beakers could hold larger volume samples than annular GMs, they had a higher counting efficiency for gamma rays. On the other hand, their efficiency for beta particles was lower than that of annular GM tubes because the betas had to penetrate the glass of the beaker as well as the GM tube wall. Dipping GM tubes, which were dipped into the radioactive solution, were primarily used for beta emitters. While the problem was not as severe as with the annular GM, they could be difficult to clean - a potential problem with long-lived radionuclides.

Marinelli glass tube for GM

A different type of alternative was to dry the sample and count it with an end window GM or electroscope (e.g., the Landsverk Model L-75). However, the preparation of dried samples was difficult to perform in a reproducible manner and it risked the volatilization of the iodine.[7]

As NaI detectors became more widely available, workers started to use the type of sample container that most people think of today as the Marinelli beaker: a relatively large plastic jar/beaker with an annular bottom that slid over the NaI crystal (e.g., Haigh, 1954 and Dratz, 1957). Sometimes referred to as a "well-bottom" container, the end of the well was sealed so that the container "hung" from the top of the detector.[8]

Notes

Held a patent for "Apparatus for counting fast neutrons in the presence of gamma rays", US #2795703 A.[9]

Awards and honors

1958 Janeway Medal awarded by the American Radium Society.

Selected publications

1930s

  • Quimby, E. H., & Marinelli, L. D. (1933). The Influence of Filtration on Surface and Depth Intensities of 200 KV X-rays 1. Radiology, 21(1), 21-29.
  • Quimby, E. H., & Marinelli, L. D. (1936). A study of cones or other collimating devices used in roentgen therapy. Radiology, 26(1), 16-26.
  • Failla, G., & Marinelli, L. D. (1937). The measurement of the ionization produced in air by gamma rays. Am. J. Roentgenol. Radium Therapy, 38, 312-343.
  • Quimby, E. H., Marinelli, L. D., & Farrow, J. H. (1938). A Study of Back-scatter. Am. J. Roentgenol, 39, 799.
  • Marinelli, L. D., Blady, J. V., & Quimby, E. (1939). Secondary filters in radium therapy. Amer. J. Roentgenol, 41, 804-816.

1940s

  • White, T. N., Marinelli, L. D., & Failla, G. (1940). A measurement of gamma radiation in roentgens. Am. J. Roentgenol, 44, 889-903.
  • Kenney, J. M., Marinelli, L. D., & Woodard, H. Q. (1941). Tracer Studies with Radioactive Phosphorus in Malignant Neoplastic Disease 1. Radiology, 37(6), 683-690.

Marinelli, L. D. (1942). Dosage Determination with Radioactive Isotopes, Am. J. Roentgenology, Radium, 47 (2), 210-216.

  • Marinelli, L. D., & Goldschmidt, B. (1942). The Concentration of P32 in Some Superficial Tissues of Living Patients 1. Radiology, 39(4), 454-463.
  • Seidlin, S. M., Marinelli, L. D., & Oshry, E. (1946). Radioactive iodine therapy: effect on functioning metastases of adenocarcinoma of the thyroid. Journal of the American Medical Association, 132(14), 838-847.
  • Leiter, L., Seidlin, S. M., Marinelli, L. D., & Baumann, E. J. (1946). Adenocarcinoma of the Thyroid with Hyperthyroidism and Functional Metastases: I. Studies with Thiouracil and Radio-Iodine 123. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 6(3), 247-261.
  • Marinelli, L. D., & Foote, F. W. (1947). Retention of radioactive iodine in thyroid carcinomas; histopathologic and radio-autographic studies. The American journal of roentgenology and radium therapy, 58(1), 17.
  • Marinelli, L. D., Brinckerhoff, R. F., & Hine, G. J. (1947). Average energy of beta-rays emitted by radioactive isotopes. Reviews of Modern Physics, 19(1), 25.
  • Marinelli, L. D., Quimby, E. H., & Hine, G. J. (1948). Dosage determination with radioactive isotopes; practical considerations in therapy and protection. The American journal of roentgenology and radium therapy, 59(2), 260-281.
  • Rawson, R. W., Marinelli, L. D., Skanse, B. N., Trunnell, J., & Fluharty, R. G. (1948). The Effect of Total Thyroidectomy on the Function of Metastatic Thyroid Cancer. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 8(10), 826-841.
  • Marinelli, L. D. (1949). Dosage determination in the use of radioactive isotopes. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 28(6 Pt 1), 1271.
  • Marinelli, L. D., Quimby, E. H., & Hine, G. (1949). [Dosimetry of radioactive isotopes; biological observations and practical applications.]. Strahlentherapie, 81(4), 587-594.
  • Rawson, R. W., Skanse, B. N., Marinelli, L. D., & Fluharty, R. G. (1949). Radioactive iodine. Its use in studying certain functions of normal and neoplastic thyroid tissues. Cancer, 2(2), 279-292.
  • Trunnell, J. B., Marinelli, L. D., Duffy Jr, B. J., Hill, R., Peacock, W., & Rawson, R. W. (1949). The Treatment of Metastatic Thyroid Cancer with Radioactive Iodine: Credits and Debits. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 9(11), 1138-1152.

1950s

  • Hill, R. F., Hine, G. J., and Marinelli, L. D. (1950), The quantitative determination of gamma radiation in biological research. Am. J. Roentgenol. & Radium Therap., 63: 160.
  • Marinelli, L. D. (1953). Radiation dosimetry and protection. Annual Review of Nuclear Science, 3(1), 249-270.
  • Marinelli, L. D., Norris, W. P., Gustafson, P. F., & Speckman, T. W. (1953). Transport of Radium Sulfate from the Lung and Its Elimination from the Human Body Following Single Accidental Exposures 1. Radiology, 61(6), 903-915.
  • Marinelli, L. D., & Taylor, L. S. (1954). The measurement of ionizing radiations for biological purposes. Radiation Biology (A. Hollaender, ed.), 1, 145-190.
  • Clark, R. K., Brar, S. S., & Marinelli, L. D. (1955). Ionization of air by beta rays from point sources. Radiology, 64(1), 94.
  • Marinelli, L. D., Miller, C. E., Gustafson, P. F., & Rowland, R. E. (1955). The quantitative determination of gamma-ray emitting elements in living persons. Am. J. Roentgenol. Radium Therapy Nuclear Med., 73.
  • Hasterlik, R. J., & Marinelli, L. D. (1955, August). Physical dosimetry and clinical observations on four human beings involved in an accidental critical assembly excursion. In Proceedings of the International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (Vol. 11, pp. 25–34).
  • Marinelli, L. D., Miller, C. E., Rowland, R. E., & Rose, J. E. (1955). Measurement in vivo of radium gamma-ray activities lower than K40 levels existing in the human body. Radiology, 64(1), 116.
  • Marinelli, L. D. (1956). The Use of NaI-Tl Crystal Spectrometers in the Study of Gamma-Ray Activity in Vivo: A Summary of Developments at the Argonne National Laboratory. Br. J. Radiol. Suppl., 7.
  • Miller, C. E., & Marinelli, L. D. (1956). Gamma-ray activity of contemporary man. Science, 124(3212), 122-123.
  • Miller, C. E., Marinelli, L. D., Rowland, R. E., & Rose, J. E. (1956). Reduction of NaI Background. Nucleonics (US) Ceased publication, 14.
  • Miller, C. E., Marinelli, L. D., Rowland, R. E., & Rose, J. E. (1956). An analysis of the background radiation detected by Nal crystals. Nuclear Science, IRE Transactions on, 3(4), 90-96.
  • Marinelli, L. D. (1957). U.S. Patent No. 2,795,703. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Marinelli, Leonidas D. "Apparatus for Counting Fast Neutrons." U.S. Patent No. 2,795,703. 11 June 1957.
  • Marinelli, L. D. (1958). Radioactivity and the human skeleton. Janeway lecture, 1958. Am. J. Roentgenol. Radium Therapy Nuclear Med., 80.
  • Gustafson, P. F., Marinelli, L. D., & Brar, S. S. (1958). Natural and fission-produced gamma-ray emitting radioactivity in soil. Science, 127(3308), 1240-1242.

1960s

  • Marinelli, L. D., Miller, C. E., May, H. A., & Rose, J. E. (1961). The use of low level gamma scintillation spectrometry in the measurements of activity in human beings. Radioactivity it, 16-30.
  • Marinelli, L. D., Miller, C. E., May, H. A., & Rose, J. E. (1962). Low level gamma-ray scintillation spectrometry: experimental requirements and biomedical applications. Advan. Biol. Med. Phys., 8.
  • Marinelli, L. D., Miller, C. E., May, H. A., & Rose, J. E. (1962). Advances in Biological and Medical Physics. CA Tobias and JH Lawrence, Ed, 81-160.

References

  1. ↑ Fano, U. (1975) Leonidas D. Marinelli (1906–1974). Radiation Research: March 1975, Vol. 61, No. 3, pp. 538-539.
  2. ↑ Brucer, Marshall. (May 1975) Leonidas D. Marinelli, Ph.D. Radiology, Vol. 115, No. 2:488 –489
  3. 1 2 Kathren, R. and Ziemer, P., Editors (1980). Health Physics: A Backward Glance. Pergamon Press.
  4. ↑ Hill, R.F., Hine, G.J. and Marinelli, L.D. (February 1950). "The Quantitative Determination of Gamma Radiation in Biological Research". American Journal of Roentgenology and Radium therapy: 160.
  5. ↑ Bruner, H.D.; Perkinson, J.D. (October 1952). "A Comparison of Iodine-131 Counting Methods". Nucleonics: 57.
  6. ↑ Marinelli, L.D.; Hill, R.F. (1948). "Brookhaven National Laboratory Conference Report BNL-C-5": 98.
  7. ↑ Landsverk, O. G., Wollan, E. O. (29 March 1949). Electrical measuring apparatus. Patent #2,465,886. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  8. ↑ Dratz, A.F. (August 1957). "Well-Bottom Container Improves Gamma Counting". Nucleonics: 83.
  9. ↑ Berlman, Isadore B., Marinelli, Leonidas D. (16 March 1954). Apparatus for counting fast neutrons in the presence of gamma rays. Patent #2,795,703A. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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