Economic advantages in medicine

2000/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Medikuntza

An aluminum foil and laser can be enough to take a big step forward in cancer treatment.

High-energy electrons or gamma rays from linear accelerators are commonly used to radiate and destroy tumors. However, they act on other electrons that find their way to the tumor and lose a lot of energy along the way. Protons, however, do not interact in this way and most of their energy is used to destroy the tumor. However, to accelerate the protons, gigantic cyclotrons are needed whose cost is enormous.

A group of researchers at Michigan University has just developed a cheaper way to create and accelerate protons: The 10-micrometer thick aluminum foil is radiated with 400 femtosecond laser pulses. The powerful electromagnetic field generated by the laser extracts the electrons from the hydrogen atoms from the water molecules condensed on the aluminum and expels them in the direction of the beam. Hydrogen nuclei that have run out of electrons, protons, repel violently and shoot the rays along with electrons. The result is a pulse of 10 billion protons and 2 megaelectronvolts of energy. To destroy tumor cells, a source of age-old energy is needed, but researchers believe that with a higher power laser and pulses of 20 femtoseconds this energy can be obtained 100 times per second.

Inventors expect the device to be ready for use in hospitals within five years. It has great advantages over the cyclotron, in addition to the mentioned economic advantage: the rig needs much less space and generates a thinner beam, 10 micrometers wide against a few millimeters of the cyclotron. Therefore, it can be especially indicated for the treatment of brain tumors.