Nearly half a million cancer patients receive radiation therapy every year in the U.S. For doctors, it can be a challenge to irradiate hard-to-reach cancers and to measure just how much radiation a patient is receiving in real time. Basic nuclear physics researchers, meanwhile, have developed detector technologies that measure the flashes of light produced when a particle passes through scintillating material in experiments. Now, an award-winning medical system uses novel scintillating fibers based on these technologies. With it, doctors can insert scintillating fibers into the human body via a catheter or other device to detect, monitor and alter radiation doses to ensure cancer patients are getting the right treatment in the right places, and also reduce the damage to nearby non-cancerous tissue.
