Microwave medical applications

Updated June 4, 2009

New for November 2007! It was recently pointed out that we were totally lacking of any discussion on this important topic. This information came from Daniel (thanks!)

The Varian boys out of Stamford pretty much made Medical Linear Accelerators the mainstay of cancer treatment with their research in the 1940's, eclipsing the use of active Cobalt 60 radiation sources with

a much more controllable and "power-off" safe radiation source. From the early 1970's to today the Medical LINAC has been the work horse of the medical cancer treatment industry.

Just yesterday (euphemistically speaking) we had Thyratrons, triggering Klystrons, modulating outputs of electron guns, with outputs running down waveguides, through bunching and steering coils, pulling 270 degree turns with bending magnets to precisely "nail" a target to output a selection of as many as 6 different electron energies and maybe 4 photon energies from anywhere in a 360 degree rotation. Yes, with a waveguide rotational coupling.

Today (literally) Computed Tomography (radiological CT) and Linear Accelerator technology has been married together into a single system with a common source to deliver the most precisely controlled radiation dose that has ever been delivered.

Microwave made it happen.