Scientists develop radio lens that provide enhanced cancer treatment without damaging healthy tissues
Scientists at the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) have created a new device that provides for an enhanced treatment of cancer without damaging healthy tissues, as reported.
The radio lens build by TII's Directed Energy Research Centre allows microwave cancer therapy devices to be placed close to the human body.
Scientists at the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) have created a new device that provides for an enhanced treatment of cancer without damaging healthy tissues,as reported.
The radio lens build by TII's Directed Energy Research Centre allows microwave cancer therapy devices to be placed close to the human body.
It can be used in Hyperthermia, a treatment for cancer that includes heating cancerous cells using microwave beams.
Medical professionals have long faced the challenge of placing it as close to the body as possible without inflicting damage to healthy tissues. The new radio lens can be placed alongside the body.
Researchers state that placing the device in proximity to the body will ensure the beam concentrates on the right spot. "So far, hyperthermia applicators have always been placed at some distance from the human body," said Fernando Albarracin-Vargas, Lead RF & Electronics Researcher at DERC.
Since the beams were positioned at a short distance, it resulted in some of the non-ionising radiation getting reflected off the body. Now, these applicators can be positioned alongside the body. "Among the significant innovations that these lenses bring to market is lowering the cost and extreme precision required in manufacturing them. In contrast, the traditional approach that is widely in use today is to create a lens of precisely shaped material," the Institute stated in a release.
Researchers devised a new method to create a lens by baking separate layers of material with a focus on various properties and then putting them together. Thanks to their higher frequencies, beams can be focused more precisely, hence decreasing the damage to healthy tissues.
They further added that the crucial innovations that these lenses bring to the market are decreasing the cost and extreme precision needed in producing them. In contrast, the traditional method that is widely in use today is to manufacture a lens of precisely shaped material.