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neurosurgical focus Neurosurg Focus 39 (1):E7, 2015

Pierre : the anonymous neurosurgical contributor

Karen Man, BAS,1 Victor M. Sabourin, MD,1 Chirag D. Gandhi, MD,1–3 Peter W. Carmel, MD,1 and Charles J. Prestigiacomo, MD1–3

Departments of 1Neurological Surgery, 2Radiology, 3Neurology and Neuroscience, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey

Pierre Curie, best known as a Nobel Laureate in for his co-contributions to the field of radioactivity alongside research partner and wife , died suddenly in 1906 from a street accident in . Tragically, his skull was crushed under the wheel of a horse-drawn carriage. This article attempts to honor the life and achievements of , whose trailblazing work in radioactivity and set into motion a wide range of technological develop- ments that have culminated in the advent of numerous techniques used in neurological surgery today. These innovations include , Gamma Knife radiosurgery, focused , and haptic feedback in robotic surgery. http://thejns.org/doi/abs/10.3171/2015.4.FOCUS15102 Key Words Pierre Curie; piezoelectricity; brachytherapy; Gamma Knife; focused ultrasound; haptic feedback

ierre Curie (Fig. 1) was a man of singular ability in brother Jacques.6 Through the liberal attitude and support the sciences. Although he is not much celebrated in of his family, Pierre earned a Bachelor of Science degree scientific history, this may be due in part to the fact (equivalent to a General Certificate of Education) at the thatP he was a modest man in life, with a general distaste for age of sixteen and was able to matriculate into the presti- glory or unnecessary publicity.14 However, to understand gious Sorbonne, also known as the , for the trajectory of his work, it is necessary to understand the his higher education.6,7,14,26 Two years later, in 1877, Pierre life that he led, his early work in physics, and the passion graduated with a licentiate in the Physical Sciences, the for scientific investigation that enabled his achievements. equivalent of a modern bachelor’s degree in physics.6,7,26 His life’s work has so broadly impacted medicine and the Afterward, he began to work at the Sorbonne as an as- sciences that it may be said that those who employ the sistant in a physics laboratory in an effort to help support fruits of his labor in modern times owe it to him to remem- his family financially.6,7,26 In 1880 (Fig. 2), he published ber his legacy. his first paper in the physical sciences with Professor Paul Desains, the director of the lab where he worked, describ- ing a novel method for measuring infrared waves using Early Life and Career of Pierre Curie thermoelectricity and a metallic grid.6,25,26 Pierre Curie was born on May 15, 1859, in Paris, Pierre’s older brother Jacques was also working at the .6,14 Pierre’s paternal grandfather and father were Sorbonne as a lab assistant in the mineralogy depart- both physicians.6,7,14 His father had also worked as a natu- ment.6,7,26 Throughout childhood and adulthood, Pierre and ral science researcher at the Museum of Natural History Jacques were close friends and shared similar interests.6,14 in Paris.6,7 Pierre was homeschooled during his childhood, While together at the Sorbonne, the brothers investigated having been deemed by his parents too sensitive and easily and first described the phenomenon of piezoelectricity— distracted for the rigidly structured French education sys- the tendency of some crystals to produce when tem.6,7,14,26 Instead, he was taught by his parents and older subjected to mechanical stress.6,12,14,47 For the sake of their

submitted February 28, 2015. accepted April 3, 2015. include when citing DOI: 10.3171/2015.4.FOCUS15102. Disclosure The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this paper.

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Fig. 1. Pierre Curie in the amphitheater of the Faculty of Sciences of Paris, 1904. Courtesy of the Curie Museum, Collection of the Associa- tion of Curie Joliot-Curie. (http://www.calames.abes.fr/pub/curie.aspx#d Fig. 2. Pierre Curie, circa 1880. Courtesy of the Curie Museum, Collec- etails?id=Calames-2014730177403311003). tion of the Association of Curie Joliot-Curie. (http://www.calames.abes. fr/pub/curie.aspx#details?id=Calames-201473017740330823). experiments, Pierre developed a tool known as the Cu- detect underwater vessels.6,7,26,47,48,62 This sonar device rie electrometer (Fig. 3), used to measure small amounts generated echoes that reflected off of underwater objects, of electricity emitted by piezoelectric materials, such as applying pressure to piezoelectric transducers upon their crystals.6,7,26,47 This device would also later be used return, which converted the signal to electricity and al- by Marie Curie in her investigation on the emissions of lowed for the calculation of the range, speed, and position salts and various other compounds, which would of underwater objects.6,7,26,47,48,62 eventually lead to her pioneering work in radioactivity.6,7 The brothers went on to publish several papers on the top- The Power Couple of Physics: Pierre and ic of piezoelectricity.11–13,26 In 1883, at the age of 24, Pierre left the Sorbonne to Marie teach as a chief laboratory assistant at the School of In- Pierre Curie and Marie Skłodowska (Fig. 4) were ini- dustrial Physics and of the City of Paris, where tially introduced to each other by a mutual friend in 1894, he conducted research on crystal symmetry and magne- when the Polish-born Marie had just earned her licentiate tism.6,7,14,26,47 In 1895, he obtained his doctoral degree in in physics at the Sorbonne.6,7,10,14 Pierre and Marie shared physics, for which he published his most influential indi- an immediate personal rapport, which, after several vidual work: his doctoral thesis on paramagnetic materi- months of friendship, resulted in marriage in July of 1895 als.6,19,26 In his thesis, he established Curie’s law, which (Fig. 5).6,7,10,14,26 By 1897, Pierre was engrossed in research states that the magnetic susceptibility of a paramagnetic on the properties of crystals, and Marie began to pursue a substance is inversely proportional to the absolute tem- doctoral degree in physics with encouragement from her perature.6,18,19,26 He also described the , husband.6,7,10,14 the point at which ferromagnetic materials lose their mag- Prior to the start of Marie’s doctoral research, in 1896, netic characteristics and become paramagnetic.6,18,19,26,47 Henri had described the spontaneous emission In 1895, after successfully defending his doctoral thesis, of rays from uranium salts and thus uncovered the phenom- Pierre became a professor at the School of Industrial Phys- enon of radioactivity.6,7,10,14,26 Marie became intrigued by ics and Chemistry.6,14,26,47 the nascent literature and sought to examine a wide variety One of his pupils was , who was later of materials for similar energetic properties.6,7,10,14,26 Pierre instrumental in the development of sonar technology, an used his various connections with a chemist acquaintance, application of piezoelectricity that used sound waves to the School of Physics, and the Museum of Natural History

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Fig. 4. Pierre and Marie Curie in the Curie garden at Sceaux, 1895. Photo taken by Albert Harlingue. Courtesy of the Curie Museum, Collec- tion of the Association of Curie Joliot-Curie. (http://www.calames.abes. fr/pub/curie.aspx#details?id=Calames-201473017740331883).

prepared a paper on the discovery of a second radioactive 6,7,10,14,16,26 Fig. 3. The Piezoelectric Quartz Electrometer patented by Pierre Curie. element, which they named “radium.” In Decem- Courtesy of the Curie Museum, Collection of the Association of Curie ber of 1898, presented their paper to the Joliot-Curie. (http://www.calames.abes.fr/pub/curie.aspx#details?id=Cal French Academy of Sciences, but the society informed the ames-2014730177403311044). Curies that their paper would not be accepted unless they could confirm the singularity of their element through in Paris to acquire a range of compound samples for Marie mass spectrometry.6,7,14,26 to analyze.6 Part of her analytical methodology involved However, the microscopic amounts of radium the Cu- using the Curie electrometer, her husband’s invention, to ries had been able to isolate were not adequate for spec- detect minute emissions from each substance.6,7,26 In 1898, troscopic analysis.6,10,14 They would need to process enor- interested in the results of his wife’s work, Pierre ceased mous quantities of pitchblende (500 tons, by the end of his own studies on crystals to collaborate with Marie and their experiments); the venture would be massively expen- recruit assistants to help with the purification of chemi- sive and the purification would ultimately take years.6,10,14 cal compounds.6,10,14 Together in their lab (Fig. 6), Pierre Admirably, the Curies (Fig. 7) were not daunted. Pierre and Marie discovered that pitchblende, then regarded as wrote letters to numerous institutions and organizations, a waste byproduct of the uranium extraction process, had within and outside of France, in search of donations or quadruple the intensity of metallic uranium.6,14,26 low-cost quantities of pitchblende.6,14 The Curies were fi- The Curies and their assistants continued their purifica- nally able to proceed when an unknown benefactor donat- tions in search of the substance in pitchblende that was ed money to allow them to acquire several tons of pitch- responsible for such radiation.6,14,26 blende from Bohemia.6,7,10 After years of intense labor in By July of 1898, the Curies had written a communi- the purification process, the Curies were able to obtain 0.1 cation to the French Academy of Sciences, presented on g of radium chloride.6,7,10,26 The sample was sent to Eugène their behalf by Academy member Henri Becquerel, claim- Demarçay, a well-known mass spectrometry specialist in ing that a new substance was found to have greater radia- France at the time, to determine the atomic mass of ra- tion properties than uranium. If it proved to be a novel ele- dium and confirm its unique elemental identity.6,7,10,26 In ment, they proposed to name the substance “,” 1902, the atomic mass of radium was determined to be after Marie’s homeland.6,7,10,14,17,26 Later, after further at- approximately 225 Da, which is exceptionally close to the tempts to purify substances within pitchblende, the Curies now accepted value of 226 Da.6,7,10,14,15,26

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man researchers Walkhoff and Giesel, who had published papers on the effects of x-rays on human skin.7,26,33,63 Pierre had replicated Giesel’s experiments with radium by plac- ing the material on his arm for ten hours, observing an ar- ray of consequences: erythema, ulceration, and pigmenta- tion.1,7,10,26 He published his findings with Henri Becquerel, and his paper piqued the interest of physicians Danlos and Bloch, who experimented with the use of radium in treat- ing lupus erythematosus and other skin disorders.7,9,22,26 Afterward, numerous publications began to attempt to characterize the effects of radioactive materials on bio- logical tissue.2,3,5,28,52 For their contributions to the field of radioactivity, Hen- ri Becquerel, Pierre Curie, and Marie Curie were awarded the 1903 in Physics. In June of 1905, Pierre delivered his Nobel lecture regarding his and Marie’s work in radioactivity, describing the great latent potential in their discoveries, for healing as well as for harm:20 Radium rays have been used in the treatment of certain dis- eases (lupus, cancer, nervous diseases). In certain cases their action may become dangerous. If one leaves a wooden or cardboard box containing a small glass ampulla with several centigrams of a radium salt in one’s pocket for a few hours, one will feel absolutely nothing. But 15 days afterwards a red- ness will appear on the epidermis, and then a sore which will be very difficult to heal. A more prolonged action could lead to paralysis and death.

Untimely Death Fig. 5. Wedding photo of Pierre and Marie Curie, 1895. Courtesy of the Curie Museum, Collection of the Association of Curie Joliot- On April 19, 1906, Pierre Curie was crossing the rue Curie. (http://www.calames.abes.fr/pub/curie.aspx#details?id=Calam Dauphine in Paris, having recently departed from a meet- es-201473017740331882). ing of the Association of Professors of the Faculties of the Sciences in Paris.6,14 It had been raining throughout the While Marie was working to purify radium from pitch- day, and as Pierre was crossing the street, he stepped into blende, Pierre investigated the effects of radium on bio- the pathway of a horse-drawn carriage and fell.6,7,14,26,43,49 logical tissue and the possible applications of radioactive At first it seemed as if Pierre would escape harm after material in medicine.7,14,26 The first reports on the effects the horse and front wheels of the carriage passed him by.6 of radioactivity on biological tissue were credited to Ger- However, his skull was crushed under a rear wagon wheel,

Fig. 6. Left: Inside the section of the Pierre and Marie Curie laboratory known as “The Hangar” in l’Ecole de physique et chimie industrielles (School of Physics and Industrial Chemistry) (EMPCI), circa 1899 (http://www.calames.abes.fr/pub/curie.aspx#details ?id=Calames-201473017740331908). Right: Laboratory of Pierre and Marie Curie, circa 1898. (http://www.calames.abes.fr/pub/ curie.aspx#details?id=Calames-201473017740331906). Both images courtesy of the Curie Museum, Collection of the Institute of Radium.

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and entered a period of grieving. She received a great number of letters from friends, acquaintances, the French government, and even strangers, all of whom expressed their condolences at Pierre’s untimely death.6,14 The gov- ernment of France offered her a widow’s pension, but she declined, intent on supporting her and Pierre’s two daugh- ters alone.6,14 Meanwhile, the Sorbonne offered Marie her late husband’s position as a physics lecturer, which she accepted with conflicting emotions.6,14,50 She would be able to continue his research as well as her own, and the position provided her a salary with which she could sup- port her family independently, but she ruminated over the painful irony in a diary entry addressed to Pierre: “You would have been happy to see me as a professor at the Sorbonne, and I myself would have so willingly done it for you. But to do it in your place, my Pierre, could one dream of a thing more cruel....”6,50 On May 13, 1906, Marie Curie was appointed the chief of research in the Faculty of Science at the Sorbonne and Fig. 7. Pierre and Marie Curie in “The Hangar” section of their labora- 6,10,14,51 tory where they made the discovery of radium, circa 1898. Courtesy became the university’s first female professor. Al- of the Curie Museum, Collection of the Association of Curie Joliot- though Pierre’s death was a great loss to his family and Curie. (http://www.calames.abes.fr/pub/curie.aspx#details?id=Calam the scientific community, it also served as the catalyst for es-201473017740331893). Marie Curie to step out from the shadow of her husband’s achievements and to pioneer further research into the field of radioactivity for the next three decades of her career.10 and it is believed that he died instantaneously.6,7,14,26,43,49 His body was carried to the local police station, where he was examined by a doctor named M. Drouet, who noted that The Memory of Pierre Curie the skull had been shattered into 16 fragments, although Despite Pierre’s considerable achievements, in his per- the face was left intact.9 The unfortunate news of Pierre’s sonal journal entries he often expressed self-doubt about death was delivered to Marie Curie later that evening; she his intellectual capacity, worried over his ability to hold refused to have an autopsy performed on her husband’s his job as a lab assistant early in his career, and described body and requested that it be brought back to their home himself as a slow thinker.6,14 He was known by friends and (Fig. 8).9 acquaintances to be a humble man who shunned glory and The news of Pierre’s death was a shock to Marie, the decorations.14 Marie was far kinder in her descriptions of rest of the , the international scientific com- his abilities, explaining his self-proclaimed “slow mind” munity, and France.6,7,14 Marie was devastated by the loss as one that could be easily distracted and required total

Fig. 8. The funeral of Pierre Curie. Funeral procession to the Curie house, 1906. Courtesy of the Curie Museum, Collection of the Association of Curie Joliot-Curie. (http://www.calames.abes.fr/pub/curie.aspx#details?id=Calames-2014730177403311048).

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/05/21 05:06 PM UTC K. Man et al. focus on a particular subject, but could yield extraordi- for glioma treatment, but use of other radioisotopes such narily precise and profound solutions.14 His personality as iodine-125 may be indicated in contemporary cases of was quiet, gentle, socially withdrawn, and stubborn.14 He recurrent malignant gliomas.35,54,56,59 was deeply dedicated to a life of scientific pursuit, yet he In addition to physicians, the Curies donated samples of was loving to his small circle of close friends and family.14 radium to their colleagues in physics. In 1900, Paul Villard Marie’s overall impression of her late husband’s character received such a donation from the Curies for his investi- was as follows:14 gations on radioactive emissions from radium, in which 32,60,61 ...his acts were those of a truly good man... full of understand- he discovered the phenomenon of gamma radiation. ing and indulgence. He was always ready to aid, as far as his Gamma rays are now known to consist of electromagnet- means allowed, any person in a difficult situation... His ten- ic photons (rather than atomic particles, as in alpha and derness was the most exquisite of blessings, sure and helpful, beta emissions) and can achieve powerful penetration of full of gentleness and solicitude. It was good to be surrounded biological tissue, being composed of wavelengths even by this tenderness; it was cruel to lose it after having lived in smaller than x-rays.32 In 1908, Dominici tubes were in- an atmosphere completely permeated by it. vented to hold implanted radium salts and block alpha and beta radiation from exiting their metal encasing, allowing Contributions of Radioactivity to Medicine only gamma rays to penetrate nearby tissue.29,57 This was the beginning of the utilization of gamma rays in cancer Pierre and Marie Curie never copyrighted or patented 6,10,14 treatment. A more contemporary application known as the the process for extracting radium. They believed in Gamma Knife, a method of stereotactic radiosurgery, was the greater good that could be achieved by allowing the developed in 1958 by Swedish physician Lars Leksell and free scientific advancement and growth of a radium indus- 6,10,14,20 Larsson and Lidén for use in functional neuro- try in France, and eventually the rest of the world. surgery.40–42 Today, Gamma Knife radiosurgery is still a The Curies were also generous in donating samples from widely used procedure for the treatment of spinal and in- the sparse amounts of radium they managed to collect, tracranial tumors.27,36,58 enabling medical researchers to investigate clinical ap- plications, as in the treatment of lupus erythematosus and cancer described in Pierre’s Nobel lecture.1,6,20,22 In the de- Contributions of Piezoelectricity to Medicine cades following the discovery of radium, there came to be Although the discovery of radium set Pierre Curie on a great interest in radium implantation for the treatment of the path to becoming a Nobel Laureate, one of his other various diseases, initially referred to as “radium-therapy” major scientific contributions—far less celebrated in sci- and then “curie-therapy” after Pierre’s death.7 Within the entific history, yet with equally great impact on modern field of neurological surgery, in 1912, Oskar Hirsch pub- technology, medicine, and the world—was the discov- lished the first known attempt at implanting radium in- ery of piezoelectricity. The first practical application of tracranially, to ablate a portion of the pituitary gland in a Pierre’s work was developed by one of his own students patient with acromegaly.34,38,55,57 In 1920, Charles Frazier from the School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry, Paul published a brief case series describing the implantation Langevin, who took part in creating the first functional of radium into various tumors, including gliomas, but his “hydrophone,” a precursor to sonar technology.48,62 The treatments proved ineffective for patients with brain tu- hydrophone featured a piezoelectric quartz transducer and mors.31,34,55,57 established the pulse-echo principle of sonar devices that Then in 1930, Harvey Cushing employed an intracranial would be used in World War II submarines.48,62 The devel- radium implant known as the “radium bomb” for the treat- opment of sonar technology, in turn, drove research that ment of gliomas.21,55,57 This therapeutic implant, consisting would become critical to the development of ultrasound of 12.5 mg radium needles encased in rubber sponges and technology. rubber tissue, exposed the tumor to radiation for several The use of ultrasound in medicine began with broth- days.21,55,57 The idea for using these radium implantations ers Karl Theodore and Friederich Dussik, who conducted arose through discussions with Gösta Forssell, a Swedish the first rudimentary ultrasound scans of the human brain professor with expertise in radium therapy for gynecologi- in 1937. 8,46,48 The brothers are also credited with first pro- cal cancers.37,55,57 Cushing’s radium bombs were employed posing the possibility of the detection of brain tumors in at least 10 known cases, from 1930 to 1931; use of these through ultrasound, citing the differences in wave trans- bombs was indicated in cases of especially aggressive neu- mission through tumor versus normal brain tissue.48 How- rological dysfunction or recurring malignant tumors that ever, further development of ultrasound technology was were insensitive to alternate treatment.55,57 However, pa- dependent on the coevolution of electronics, specifically tient outcomes were ultimately poor, despite short-term re- the development of more sensitive transducers to allow mission, and Cushing eventually abandoned the technique for higher spatial resolution in images.8 Such transducers before his retirement in 1932.57 Although these pioneering were developed in the 1970s and 1980s, paving the way radium implantations appeared to be futile, the lack of suc- for ultrasound to become a standard diagnostic tool in cess was likely due to imprecise dosimetry and a dearth of medicine.8,46 Within neurological surgery, ultrasound ap- knowledge regarding radiobiology at the time.35 Neverthe- plications include penetration of the blood-brain barrier to less, these first attempts served as essential predecessors to introduce molecular therapeutic agents into the brain, so- modern brachytherapy and brought attention to the pros- nothrombolysis to treat ischemic stroke, and noninvasive pect of using in the treatment of brain treatment of chronic neuropathic pain.4,8,30,39,44 tumors. Radium itself is no longer commonly implanted Aside from ultrasound applications, piezoelectric sen-

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/05/21 05:06 PM UTC Pierre Curie: anonymous neurosurgical contributor sors and actuators have had far-reaching impact in the energy to the neurosurgical armamentarium. World Neuro- fields of electronics and engineering, facilitating the de- surg 82:354–365, 2014 velopment of cutting edge medical technologies that re- 9. Curie E: Madame Curie. London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1938 quire high precision forces and pressures. In laparoscopic 10. Curie E: Marie and Pierre Curie and the discovery of radium. surgery, for example, piezoelectric actuators can be used Br J Radiol 23:409–412, 1950 to generate relatively high power densities, delivering high 11. Curie J, Curie P: Contractions et dilatations produites par des torque at low speed in a surgical instrument, and piezo- tensions dans les cristaux hémièdres à faces inclinées. C R electric polymers can be used for haptic feedback during Acad Sci Gen 93:1137–1140, 1880 minimally invasive surgery.23,53 Piezoelectric actuators 12. Curie J, Curie P: Développement, par pression, de l’électricité and sensors are also used to achieve haptic feedback dur- polaire dans les cristaux hémièdres à faces inclinées. C R ing robotic surgery for neurological cases.24,45 Acad Sci Gen 91:294–295, 1880 13. Curie J, Curie P: Sur l’électricité polaire dans les cristaux hémièdres à faces inclinées. C R Acad Sci Gen 91:383–386, Conclusions 1880 There is an unfortunate irony in the fact that Pierre 14. Curie M: Pierre Curie. New York: The Macmillian Co, 1923 15. Curie M: Recherches sur les substances radioactives. Curie’s life was shortened prematurely by an accident of Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1904 fatal neurological trauma, considering that his life’s work 16. Curie P, Curie M, Bémont G: Sur une nouvelle substance has since paved the way for the advancement of many fortement radioactive contenue dans la pechblende. C R technologies used in neurological surgery today. Pierre Acad Sci Paris 127:1215–1217, 1898 and his brother Jacques’ discovery of piezoelectricity has 17. Curie P, Curie M: Sur une substance nouvelle radioactive facilitated the development of ultrasound technology and contenue dans la pechblende. C R Acad Sci Paris 127:175– haptic feedback mechanisms used in robotic surgery, to 178, 1898 name only two major applications in medicine and elec- 18. Curie P: Lois expérimentales du magnétisme. Propriétés magnétiques des corps a diverses temperatures. Ann Chim tronics. Pierre and Marie Curie’s discovery of radium and Phys 5:289–405, 1895 research into radioactivity opened the door to applications 19. Curie P: Propriétés magnétiques des corps à diverses tem- of radium in medicine that were the predecessors to mod- pératures. Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1895 ern brachytherapy. Pierre’s willingness to donate radium 20. Curie P: Radioactive substances, especially radium. Nobel samples to fellow researchers also allowed for the discov- Lecture. (http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/ ery of gamma rays, which have now been harnessed in laureates/1903/pierre-curie-lecture.html) [Accessed April 17, the widely used technique of Gamma Knife radiosurgery. 2015] Although Pierre’s death was an untimely one that deprived 21. Cushing H: Intracranial Tumors. Notes Upon a Series of the world of a great mind and an altruistic spirit, the legacy Two Thousand Verified Cases with Surgical-Mortality Percentages Pertaining Thereto. Springfield, IL: Charles C of Pierre Curie lives on in the manifold advances in sci- Thomas, 1932 ence that have stemmed from the work he so passionately 22. Danlos H, Bloch P: Note sur le traitement du lupus érythèma- pursued in life. teux pardes applications de radium. Ann Dermatol Syphil 2:986–988, 1901 Acknowledgments 23. Dargahi J, Parameswaran M, Payandeh S: A micromachined piezoelectric tactile sensor for an endoscopic grasper—the- The authors would like to thank Ms. Anais Massiot, archivist of ory, fabrication and experiments. J Microelectromech Syst the Curie Museum in Paris, France, for her generous support of this 9: project. She is an expert on the lives of Pierre and Marie Curie and 329–335, 2000 has spent considerable time and effort in assisting the authors to 24. De Lorenzo D, De Momi E, Dyagilev I, Manganelli R, For- choose appropriate photographs and in locating information related maglio A, Prattichizzo D, et al: Force feedback in a piezo- to Pierre Curie’s death. electric linear actuator for neurosurgery. Int J Med Robot 7:268–275, 2011 25. Desains P, Curie P: Recherches sur la détermination des lon- References gueurs d’onde des rayons calorifiques à basse température. C 1. Becquerel H, Curie P: Action physiologique des rayons du R Acad Sci Paris 90:1506–1510, 1880 radium. C R Acad Sci Paris 132:1289–1291, 1901 26. Diamantis A, Magiorkinis E, Papadimitriou A, Androutsos 2. Bergonié J, Tribondeau L: Premières expériences sur le rat G: The contribution of Maria Sklodowska-Curie and Pierre blanc. C R Soc Biol 57:592–595, 1904 Curie to nuclear and medical physics. A hundred and ten 3. Bohn G: Influence des rayons du radium sur les animaux en years after the discovery of radium. Hell J Nucl Med 11:33– voie de croissance. C R Acad Sci Paris 136:1012–1013, 1903 38, 2008 4. Bor-Seng-Shu E, de Carvalho Nogueira R, Figueiredo EG, 27. Ding D, Yen CP, Starke RM, Lee CC, Sheehan JP: Unyield- Evaristo EF, Conforto AB, Teixeira MJ: Sonothrombolysis ing progress: recent advances in the treatment of central for acute ischemic stroke: a systematic review of randomized nervous system neoplasms with radiosurgery and radiation controlled trials. Neurosurg Focus 32(1):E5, 2012 therapy. J Neurooncol 119:513–529, 2014 5. Bouchard C, Baltharzard V, Curie P: Action physique de 28. Dominci H, Barcat J: Modifications histologiques déter- l’émanation du radium. C R Acad Sci Paris 138:1385–1389, minées par le rayonnement du radium. Arc d’Elec Méd 1904 15:835–836, 1907 6. Brian D: The Curies: A Biography of the Most Controver- 29. Dutreix J, Tubiana M, Pierquin B: The hazy dawn of brachy- sial Family in Science. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2005 therapy. Radiother Oncol 49:223–232, 1998 7. Chavaudra J: Pierre and Marie Curie-Sklodowska. Med Phys 30. Etame AB, Diaz RJ, Smith CA, Mainprize TG, Hynynen K, 22:1877–1887, 1995 Rutka JT: Focused ultrasound disruption of the blood-brain 8. Christian E, Yu C, Apuzzo MLJ: Focused ultrasound: rel- barrier: a new frontier for therapeutic delivery in molecular evant history and prospects for the addition of mechanical neurooncology. Neurosurg Focus 32(1):E3, 2012

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31. Frazier CH: The effects of radium emanations upon brain 51. Noss TB: Madame Pierre Curie: The first woman professor tumors. Surg Gynecol Obstet 31:236–239, 1920 in the Sorbonne. J Educ 64:611, 1906 32. Gerward L: Paul Villard and his discovery of gamma rays. 52. Perthes G: Versuche über den Einfluss der Röntgenstrahlen Phys Perspect 1:367–383, 1999 und Radium-strahlen auf die Zellteliung. Deutsch Med 33. Giesel F: Ueber radioactive Stoffe. Ber Dtsche Chem Ges Wochenscrh 30:632–634, 1904 33:3569–3571, 1900 53. Röse A, Wohlleber C, Kassner S, Schlaak HF, Werthschüt- 34. Greenblatt S, Dagi T, Epstein M (eds): A History of Neuro- zky R: A novel piezoelectric driven laparoscopic instrument surgery: In its Scientific and Professional Contexts. Park with multiple degree of freedom parallel kinematic structure, Ridge, IL: AANS, 1997 in IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent 35. Gutin PH, Leibel SA, Wara WM, Choucair A, Levin VA, Robots and Systems, 2009. 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Wade G: Human uses of ultrasound: ancient and modern. tored focused ultrasound blood-brain barrier disruption for Ultrasonics 38:1–5, 2000 brain tumor treatment: an overview of the current preclinical 63. Walkoff F: Unsichtbare, photographisch wirksame Strahlen. status. Neurosurg Focus 32(1):E4, 2012 Photographische. Rundsch Z Freunde Photographie 45. L’Orsa R, Macnab CJB, Tavakoli M: Introduction to haptics 14:189–191, 1900 for neurosurgeons. Neurosurgery 72 (Suppl 1):139–153, 2013 46. Manbachi A, Cobbold RSC: Development and application of piezoelectric materials for ultrasound generation and detec- tion. Ultrasound 19:187–196, 2011 Author Contributions 47. Mould RF: Pierre Curie, 1859-1906. Curr Oncol 14:74–82, Conception and design: Man, Sabourin. Acquisition of data: Man, 2007 Sabourin. Analysis and interpretation of data: Man. Drafting 48. Newman PG, Rozycki GS: The history of ultrasound. Surg the article: Man. Critically revising the article: Prestigiacomo, Clin North Am 78:179–195, 1998 Sabourin, Gandhi. Administrative/technical/material support: 49. New York Times: Prof. Curie killed in a Paris street. April Prestigiacomo, Sabourin, Carmel. 20, 1906. (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9 402E4DC1438EF32A25753C2A9629C946797D6CF) [Ac- cessed April 17, 2015] Correspondence 50. Nichols-Pecceu M: “Cher Pierre que je ne reverrai plus Charles J. Prestigiacomo, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, ici”: Marie Curie’s Mourning Journal, 1906–1907. Fr Rev 90 Bergen St., DOC Ste. 8100, Newark, NJ 07101-1709. email: 73:872–880, 2000 [email protected].

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