The Economics of High-intensity Cobalt 60 Therapy Sources

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Abstract
With the availability of higher activity cobalt sources (at, however, a considerably increased cost) it seemed worth while to consider the relative cost per patient treated as a function of source activity. Curves were first drawn showing the variation of the average number of patients treatable per annum as a function of output at the treating distance, practical values of the other variables involved were used, the most important one being that only a certain constant number of patients had to be treated each year. Curves were drawn giving the cost per patient as a function of the initial source activity for a single unit and for two units. These showed that in all cases there is an initial source activity which gives a minimum cost per patient. An example is also given of this minimum where three units are available, both with and without interchange of sources. Working under optimum conditions the maintenance and depreciation costs of two cobalt units are about equal to those for a 4 MeV linear accelerator.

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