Professor Frank Farmer

Frank Farmer was a pioneer in the application of physics to medicine and founder in 1964 of the Northern Regional Medical Physics Department. His scientific and pioneering work in Newcastle is well known both in Britain and abroad, particularly in relation to the practical aspects of cancer treatment by radiation.

Frank Taylor Farmer, medical physicist: born Bexleyheath, Kent 18 September 1912; assistant physicist, Middlesex Hospital 1940-45; hospital physicist, Radium Centre, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle 1945-64; founder and head, Northern Regional Medical Physics Department 1964-78; Honorary Professor of Medical Physics and Head of the Department of Medical Physics, Newcastle University 1966-78 (Emeritus); OBE 1973; married 1960 Dr Marion Bethune (deceased); died Newcastle upon Tyne 16 July 2004.

Frank Farmer was a pioneer in the application of physics to medicine and founder in 1964 of the Northern Regional Medical Physics Department. His scientific and pioneering work in Newcastle is well known both in Britain and abroad, particularly in relation to the practical aspects of cancer treatment by radiation.

He was born in Bexleyheath, Kent, in 1912. After education at Eltham College, he studied Electrical Engineering and was awarded a First Class honours degree in 1933 from King's College London. He then went to King's College, Cambridge, to research radio-wave propagation in the ionosphere, and for this work was awarded a PhD in 1937. Thereafter he continued as a research engineer at the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company in Chelmsford.

With this technical and scientific background he was appointed in 1940 as Assistant Physicist in the Radiotherapy Department at the Middlesex Hospital. At that time he was one of only a few physicists working in a hospital, dealing with the increasing problems posed by diagnostic X-rays and cancer treatment with radium.

The calibration of X-ray equipment at that time was difficult, and he d eveloped a device for determining the X-ray dose delivered to patients. Its success resulted in the manufacture of the Farmer Dosemeter, which became the standard instrument in radiotherapy departments worldwide, and is still in commercial production.

In 1945 Farmer was appointed as hospital physicist at the Radium Centre, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle. From his experience in radiotherapy he became involved in helping to pioneer the design of linear accelerators for cancer treatment, and the first gantry-mounted machine in the world was installed in Newcastle in 1953. These machines, which avoid the severe skin damage of early forms of X-ray treatment, are now used widely throughout the world.

From his early work in the cancer field, Farmer branched out into other areas where science could be applied to medicine, including electronics, radioisotopes, ultrasonics, cardiology physics, audiology and computing, all of which now form part of the overall medical physics service in Newcastle. This great expansion led to the establishment in 1964 of a Regional Medical Physics Department based at the Newcastle General Hospital and the Royal Victoria Infirmary. He also had the vision to begin the expansion of scientific services into district general hospitals outside Newcastle.

Frank Farmer was ever ready to promote developments in physics and engineering for the clinical benefit of patients. When radioisotopes became available after the Second World War from British nuclear reactors he immediately harnessed their potential. Radioisotope tracer techniques offered new opportunities for medical diagnosis. As a result he introduced a local radio-tracer service which was wholeheartedly welcomed by medical colleagues. For example, thyroid measurements were established in which both the quantity and distribution of iodine 131 were obtained. This foreshadowed the wider development of radionuclide imaging elsewhere in the body.

The importance of all his scientific work was acknowledged by Newcastle University through his being made Honorary Professor of Medical Physics in 1966, President of the Hospital Physicists' Association in 1959, and President of the British Institute of Radiology in 1973. He served as a member of the International Commission on Radiation Units, as well as numerous radiological, research and ethics committees, both as a member and chairman.

To the delight of friends and colleagues, the British Institute of Radiology awarded Farmer the Barclay Medal for outstanding contributions to radiology in 1977 and in 1978 he was appointed OBE for his achievements in the application of science to medicine. Even in his hobbies he met with international recognition, as he applied his electronics flair to short-wave radio communication. He maintained active contact with his global network of "radio ham" friends all his life.

But Farmer's devotion extended beyond his service to medical advancement. Some time before retirement, deep Christian convictions led him to become a member of the Society of Friends. In this capacity he applied his seemingly boundless energy to helping at the People's Kitchen in central Newcastle which provides shelter and food for those in need. "Baseline", an organisation for the underprivileged in Newcastle, also benefited from Farmer's generous spirit.

Even at 90, Frank Farmer could be seen cycling to these venues. When asked if this was not considered dangerous, he remarked that he was steadier on his bike than on his feet. He had, no doubt, a physics theory to back up this observation. His regular use of the bicycle was in fact more than merely a convenient mode of transport. He was a member of Friends of the Earth and it represented a personal campaign against the misuse of the earth's resources.

Terry Hawkins, Alan Murray and Tony Whittingham