Exploring a laser-hybrid accelerator for radiotherapy

A multidisciplinary team in the UK has received seed funding to investigate
the feasibility of a new facility for ion-therapy research based on novel
accelerator, instrumentation and computing technologies. At the core of the
facility would be a laser-hybrid accelerator dubbed LhARA: a high-power pulsed
laser striking a thin foil target would create a large flux of protons or ions,
which are captured using strong-focusing electron–plasma lenses and then accelerated rapidly in a fixed-field alternating- gradient accelerator. Such a device, says the team, offers enormous clinical potential by providing more flexible, compact and cost-effective multi-ion sources. High-energy X-rays are by far the most common radiotherapy tool, but recent decades have seen a growth in particle-beam radiotherapy. In contrast to X-rays, protons and ion beams can be manipulated to deliver radiation doses more precisely than conventional radiotherapy, sparing surrounding healthy tissue.