Medical Applications of Particle Accelerators
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
Particle accelerators were originally developed for research and discovery and have now given rise to a wealth of applications in various areas including medicine. Today there are estimated to be 10,000 particle accelerators in the world and over half of them are used in medicine and only a few in fundamental research. These applications are based on machines developed around World War II, with far more effort expended on reactor technology. Accelerators provide great advances in two ways: imaging and therapy.
Cancer is the second major cause of death in modern societies; about one third of the population will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime. This is a scary thought but fortunately, in part because of advances with accelerators, it is now possible to cure 45% of these cancers. The success rate is even higher if the treatment can be done locally before the occurrence of metastasis. About fifty percent of these cancers are treated by radiotherapy. Progress in accelerator technology including beam power, acceleration efficiency, and reliability and ease of operation make it possible to consider new ranges of application in radiotherapy. Radiotherapy is a form of biological surgery where the scalpel is replaced bye a tiny particle capable of sterilizing malignant cells by cutting out the DNA that causes them to multiply...