the history of radiation therapy machines
Chapter 1
From X-Rays to Ion Beams: A Short History of Radiation Therapy
James M. Slater
Abstract Radiation therapy (RT) developed in several eras. Patients’ needs for more effective treatment guided the efforts. The development of ion beam therapy
(IBT) can be seen as a corollary in this continuous endeavor to optimize disease control while minimizing normal-tissue damage. It could not have materialized, however, without the curiosity, ingenuity, and perseverance of researchers, engineers, and clinicians who developed important enabling technologies.
1.1 Introduction
Prior to the advent of ionizing particle beams, medicine had few options for treating some malignant and benign diseases. Physicians’ needs for new techniques to address these problems formed a vacuum, clearly demonstrated immediately following the discovery of X-rays in November 1895. By the first few months of 1896, X-rays were being used to treat skin lesions prior to any understanding of the beams’ physical or biological characteristics. The driving force was, of course, patients’ overwhelming need of treatment for uncontrollable and debilitating diseases. Radiation medicine developed over four major eras: the era of discovery, from
R¨ ntgen’s discovery to about the late 1920s; the orthovoltage era, from the late o 1920s through World War II; the megavoltage era, which began with higher-energy linacs for therapy in the 1950s, and, with refinements such as intensity-modulated
X-ray therapy (IMXT), is still ongoing. Within this scheme, the roots of IBT fall into the third or megavoltage phase, with the first treatment of humans in 1954.
J.M. Slater ( )
Department of Radiation Medicine, Loma Linda University Medical Center, 11234 Anderson
Street, CSP A-1010, Loma Linda, CA 92354, USA e-mail: jmslater@dominion.llumc.edu
U. Linz (ed.), Ion Beam Therapy, Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical
Engineering, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-21414-1 1,
© Springer-Verlag Berlin
From X-Rays to Ion Beams: A Short History of Radiation Therapy
James M. Slater
Abstract Radiation therapy (RT) developed in several eras. Patients’ needs for more effective treatment guided the efforts. The development of ion beam therapy
(IBT) can be seen as a corollary in this continuous endeavor to optimize disease control while minimizing normal-tissue damage. It could not have materialized, however, without the curiosity, ingenuity, and perseverance of researchers, engineers, and clinicians who developed important enabling technologies.
1.1 Introduction
Prior to the advent of ionizing particle beams, medicine had few options for treating some malignant and benign diseases. Physicians’ needs for new techniques to address these problems formed a vacuum, clearly demonstrated immediately following the discovery of X-rays in November 1895. By the first few months of 1896, X-rays were being used to treat skin lesions prior to any understanding of the beams’ physical or biological characteristics. The driving force was, of course, patients’ overwhelming need of treatment for uncontrollable and debilitating diseases. Radiation medicine developed over four major eras: the era of discovery, from
R¨ ntgen’s discovery to about the late 1920s; the orthovoltage era, from the late o 1920s through World War II; the megavoltage era, which began with higher-energy linacs for therapy in the 1950s, and, with refinements such as intensity-modulated
X-ray therapy (IMXT), is still ongoing. Within this scheme, the roots of IBT fall into the third or megavoltage phase, with the first treatment of humans in 1954.
J.M. Slater ( )
Department of Radiation Medicine, Loma Linda University Medical Center, 11234 Anderson
Street, CSP A-1010, Loma Linda, CA 92354, USA e-mail: jmslater@dominion.llumc.edu
U. Linz (ed.), Ion Beam Therapy, Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical
Engineering, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-21414-1 1,
© Springer-Verlag Berlin
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