Protons can be used to kill cancer cells
Shutterstock/Meletios Verras
A wedge-shaped device could make the particle accelerators used for proton therapies in medicine an even more effective tool for treating cancer.
Beams of protons can be used to kill tumour cells. In traditional radiation therapy, radiation moves through the body before and after hitting the tumour, but protons tend to stop after reaching it. This means that fewer parts of the body are exposed to the treatment, which reduces side effects.
However, the process of producing the right protons is long and …
