Much to the delight of oncologists, a highly energetic ion beam in an accurately defined dose that provides a pin-sharp (and cost-effective) radiation treatment of tumors has been experimentally demonstrated.
Physicists at the Munich Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP), led by Dr. Dietrich Habs, professor at Ludwig Maximilian University, in cooperation with scientists at the Max Born Institute in Berlin, have published their results in the latest issue of Physical Review Letters. MAP is a German Research Foundation Cluster of Excellence.
According to the group, modern techniques based on intense laser pulses may in the future replace expensive conventional particle accelerators.
Carbon beams are considered to be the most effective method of cancer therapy, as tumors are destroyed permanently with minimum trauma. Conventional x-rays or electron beams, on the other hand, cause significant damage to the surrounding healthy tissue on their pathway into the body.
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