How Particle Accelerators Are Used In Modern Medicine

Cancer treatment

One of the most important of all applications of particle accelerators is the treatment of cancer. There are multiple similar yet different methods that particle accelerators are used for. The main of which is X-ray therapy. The most common form of radiotherapy, x-ray therapy destroys cancer cells by sending electron particles beaming toward a material like tungsten, which is then reflected off the material, through the skin tissue and into the cancerous tumor. Unfortunately there are side effects as the radiation damages cells around the targeted area. This damage can cause pneumonitis, dry mouth due to loss of saliva production and damage to the skin. Scientists are making attempts at improving the radiation therapy by tying to give high doses of radiation directed at the tumor whilst also minimizing the damage caused by the radiation.

Another more direct form of x-ray therapy is electron beam therapy. This method uses the same particle accelerator as the x-ray therapy but, instead of the electron beams being sent into a material, the beams are sent straight into the tumor. This method is much more useful for treating tumors near the surface of the skin as the electrons lose much of their energy once they come in contact with human tissue. This method also is safer than standard x-ray therapy as it causes less damage to the healthy tissues surrounding the tumor. This is because the electron beams are not sent through the body like the standard x-ray therapy but rather collide with the tumor and lose most of their energy before exiting the body.

Hadron beam therapy is similar to x-ray therapy but uses quarks instead of electrons. There are three types of hadron beam therapy, proton, neutron, and ion therapy. Also different therapies treat different forms of cancer. Neutron therapy is much like x-ray therapy but much more effective. This type of therapy is best against cancers that are difficult to kill using conventional radiation therapy. Proton and ion beam therapy is also similar to standard x-ray treatments but, is much more effective in giving large doses of radiation while also significantly reducing the damage done to the healthy tissue and vital organs. Proton and ion beam therapy surpasses standard radiation therapy as the accelerator is able to control the amount of energy at which the protons or ions are fired with which dictates the depth the protons or ions will penetrate the body.

Medical Materials Produced with Accelerators

Particle accelerators are slowly becoming relevant in medical sciences. We first talked about the large impact it has in the treatment of many types of cancer and cancer research. They are used for the production of customized materials for manufacturing. That being said, it can also be used to create prosthetic limbs for patients. Creations have been made that can allow heart valves to be made to mirror a normal human’s valves. This is produced using methods where silver ions are barraged onto the material until specific properties are achieved. The end result is that extremely durable silver lined valves are created from the process. What may come to mind in using small amount of silver heart valves would be that the body would not accept, but researchers say that the body’s acceptance of the heart valve should not be affected by its material used, in this case silver. The

investigation still goes on due to the fact that the small amount of silver used in the valves still stops cell growth for an unknown reason. There is still much to learn able from this.

Hydrogels are also created from particle accelerators firing beams of electrons. Hydrogels are used for treating wounds such as burns. The patients have said that the use of the hydrogels were a lot more comfortable than medical bandages.