The research has been published in the journal Nature Physics Scottish scientists have created a super-powerful beam of radiation that could revolutionise cancer detection and treatment.It is hoped that the gamma rays generated, which are a thousand billion times more brilliant than the sun, will lead to new medical imaging and radiotherapy tools.
Experts say the discovery may lead to scanners that provide doctors with a clearer picture of cancerous tumours deep within the body.They may also be able to target treatment more effectively by delivering a gamma-ray beam to blast tumours.
The therapeutic use of gamma rays, which are a form of X-rays, began in the 1950s with the invention of powerful types to deliver beams of radiation to kill cancer.
Physicists have now discovered that ultra-short duration laser pulses can interact with ionised gas to give off beams that are so intense they can pass through eight inches of lead and would take five feet of concrete to be completely absorbed.
Researchers from Strathclyde University, Glasgow University and Instituto Superior Tecnico in Lisbon, Portugal, succeeded in creating the brightest gamma ray beam ever.
Professor Dino Jaroszyski, of Strathclyde University, said: “This is a great breakthrough, which could make the probing of very dense matter easier and more extensive, and so allow us to monitor nuclear fusion capsules imploding.
“It could also act as a powerful tool in cancer therapy and there is nothing else to match the duration of the gamma ray pulses, which is also why it is so bright.”
The device used in the research is smaller and less costly than more conventional sources of gamma rays.Researchers believe the discovery will help in the development of a new generation of Positron Emission Tomograph or PETscanners. Professor Jaroszynski added: “In nature, if you accelerate charged particles such as electrons, they radiate. We trapped particles in a cavity of ions trailing an intense laser pulse and accelerated these to high energies.
“Electrons in this cavity interact with the laser and pick up energy and oscillate wildly – much like a child being pushed on a swing.
“The large swinging motion and the high energy of the electrons allow a huge increase in the photon energy to produce gamma rays. This enabled the gamma ray photons to outshine any other earthbound source.”The research has been published in the journal Nature Physics.