External Components of the Linear Accelerator (LINAC)

The medical linear accelerator (linac) is a crucial piece of technology for the radiation oncology industry and is one of the most used machines in the field. The underlying principle of a linac is straightforward, but producing a consistent, stable beam of radiation and precise, sophisticated design for careful operation is essential.

A linear accelerator works by heating a filament that boils off a cloud of electrons; these electrons are then accelerated by an electric field applied between the filament (cathode) and a thin metal window (anode). The electrons then hit a target (where they produce Bremsstrahlung X-rays) or a scattering foil (to distribute an electron beam evenly.) 

Afterward, the beam can be shaped in the treatment head – a part of the LINAC machine. Below, we discuss the external and internal components of a Linear Accelerator.

External Components of a Linear Accelerator: 

Couch (Patient Positioning System) The couch supports and positions the patient during treatment. Modern LINAC couches allow for precise patient positioning for proper beam exposure, which can move on the x, y, and z-axis. More advanced couches may include the ability to allow a patient to be positioned to roll, pitch, and yaw.

Electronic Portal Imaging Device (EPID) The electronic portal imaging device forms an image using the MV treatment beam. EPIDs are valuable in tools for monitoring patient setup and quality assurance.

Gantry The linac is mounted on a rotating gantry that offers treatment from multiple angles.

kV Imaging System The kilovoltage imaging system consists of a kV X-ray generator and an electronic imaging device. Lower energies of the imaging system improve contrast, particularly when used to produce a cone-beam CT.

Stand Connected to the gantry, the stand contains electrons and other systems required for linac operation.

Read more on the internal components of Linear Accelerators such as the bending magnet, accelerating waveguide, circulator, and more.

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Huge Breakthrough Made in the Development of Creating the Worlds Most Powerful Particle Accelerator

Researchers affiliated with UNIST (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology) have demonstrated, for the first time, the ionizing cooling of muons. For those who work in the field, this is considered a massive step toward creating the world's most powerful particle accelerator. The new muon accelerator is expected to provide a better understanding of the fundamental properties of matter.

The Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) collaboration has been behind the breakthrough, including many UK scientists. One of the pioneers is Professor Moses Chung, who leads his team at the School of Natural Sciences at UNIST. His organization's work has been featured in the online version of Nature on February 5, 2020.

"We have succeeded in realizing muon ionization cooling, one of our greatest challenges associated with developing muon accelerators," says Professor Chung. "Achievement of this is considered especially important, as it could change the paradigm of developing the Lepton Collider that could replace the Neutrino Factory of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)."

These experiments have demonstrated that the phase-space volume occupied by the muon beam can be controlled with ionization cooling, as predicted by the field's theories.

Read more about this leading breakthrough in particle accelerators, here.

New Cancer Treatment Delivers Weeks of Radiation Therapy in Just One Second

For decades radiation therapy has been used to treat cancer and is still the best option we have at defeating the disease. The downside to radiation therapy is that it often takes weeks or even months for treatment session cycles and comes with collateral damage by also destroying healthy cells in the body.

However, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered a way to deliver treatment in under one second. FLASH radiotherapy is an emerging form of therapy that involves giving a patient a one-second dosage of concentrated radiation that they would usually receive over a week. Experiments have proven that the result of the cancerous cells is comparable to the standard treatment duration; however, the exception being that damage to healthy tissue is significantly reduced.

Pennsylvania University researchers found that adjusting the fundamental particle used could make FLASH radiotherapy more effective. Typically, electrons are used in therapy, but they don't penetrate very deep into the body, meaning they're really only useful for shallower cancer types such a skin cancer.

The FLASH therapy model uses protons and showed that linear accelerators could be modified to produce and deliver these particles. Since protons penetrate deeper into body tissue, they can be much more effective in treating more significant tumor types.

"The is the first time anyone has published findings that demonstrate the feasibility of using protons, rather than electrons, to generate FLASH doses, with an accelerator currently used for clinical treatments," says James M. Metz, co-senior author of the study.

Read more on how FLASH treatment is making breakthroughs in treating cancer here.

Radparts provides high quality, user-friendly, and low-cost parts and support for linear accelerators and radiation equipment. More information can be found at https://www.radparts.com.