A new device to make cancer treatments safer and more effective

Pedro Assis

Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas, Lisboa, Portugal

Cancer treatments often rely on radiation to target and destroy tumours. A new method of delivering radiation at extremely high dose rates over a very short time promises to reduce harm to healthy tissues and make these treatments faster. This approach can improve outcomes for patients by minimizing side effects like fatigue and damage to organs.

However, current machines cannot fully support this breakthrough. The devices used to monitor radiation during treatment struggle with the intensity of these high dose rates, making it difficult to ensure the correct amount of radiation reaches the tumour without affecting healthy tissues.

Scientists are developing a new monitoring system based on a phenomenon called the Cherenkov effect. When charged particles travel very fast in materials, light is produced. This system uses special detectors to capture this light and measure the radiation with great precision in real time. Unlike older systems, it can handle high dose rates without losing accuracy or becoming overloaded.

This new device could make these high-dose rate radiation treatments a safe and reliable option for hospitals worldwide. It would allow doctors to treat tumours more effectively while protecting their patients from unnecessary harm. Treatments could also become faster and more accessible, improving the experience for people undergoing radiation therapy.

Overall, this innovation has the potential to transform how cancer is treated, offering hope to patients and improving their quality of life, not just during treatment, but in their recovery afterward.

Monitoring Chamber based on Cherenkov for FLASH beam monitoring and control

Stage 1