Editing Cyclotron (section)

=== Medical uses ===
==== Radioisotope production ====

Cyclotron beams can be used to bombard other atoms to produce short-lived isotopes with a variety of medical uses, including [[medical imaging]] and [[radiotherapy]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Cyclotrons – What are They and Where Can you Find Them |url=https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/cyclotrons-what-are-they-and-where-can-you-find-them |website=www.iaea.org |publisher=International Atomic Energy Agency |access-date=27 January 2022 |language=en |date=27 January 2021}}</ref>  [[Positron]] and [[gamma radiation|gamma]] emitting isotopes, such as [[fluorine-18]], [[isotopes of carbon#carbon-11|carbon-11]], and [[technetium-99m]]<ref>{{cite news | last=Hume |first=M.  |date=21 February 2012 |title=In a breakthrough, Canadian researchers develop a new way to produce medical isotopes | url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/in-a-breakthrough-canadian-researchers-develop-a-new-way-to-produce-medical-isotopes/article4092466/ | newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]] |location=Vancouver}}</ref> are used for [[PET imaging|PET]] and [[Single-photon emission computed tomography|SPECT]] imaging. While cyclotron produced radioisotopes are widely used for diagnostic purposes, therapeutic uses are still largely in development.  Proposed isotopes include [[astatine]]-211, [[palladium]]-103, [[rhenium]]-186, and [[bromine]]-77, among others.<ref>{{cite book |title=Cyclotron produced radionuclides : principles and practice. |date=2008 |publisher=International Atomic Energy Agency |location=Vienna |isbn=978-92-0-100208-2}}</ref>

==== Beam therapy ====

The first suggestion that energetic protons could be an effective treatment method was made by [[Robert R. Wilson]] in a paper published in 1946<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wilson |first=Robert R. |date=1946 |title=Radiological Use of Fast Protons |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1148/47.5.487 |journal=Radiology |volume=47 |issue=5 |pages=487–491 |doi=10.1148/47.5.487 |pmid=20274616 |issn=0033-8419}}</ref> while he was involved in the design of the [[Harvard Cyclotron Laboratory]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4cnvAAAAMAAJ&q=A+Brief+History+of+the+Harvard+University+Cyclotrons |title=A Brief History of the Harvard University Cyclotrons |date=2004 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-01460-2 |pages=9 |language=en}}</ref>

Beams from cyclotrons can be used in [[particle therapy]] to treat [[cancer]]. Ion beams from cyclotrons can be used, as in [[proton therapy]], to penetrate the body and kill tumors by [[radiation poisoning|radiation damage]], while minimizing damage to healthy tissue along their path. 

As of 2020, there were approximately 80 facilities worldwide for radiotherapy using beams of protons and heavy ions, consisting of a mixture of cyclotrons and synchrotrons. Cyclotrons are primarily used for proton beams, while synchrotrons are used to produce heavier ions.<ref>{{cite book |title=Regulatory control of the safety of ion radiotherapy facilities : a guide for best practice. |date=2020 |publisher=International Atomic Energy Agency |location=Vienna |isbn=9789201631190 |url=https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/TE-1891web.pdf |access-date=27 January 2022}}</ref>