拢4.5m 鈥楲ab in a bubble鈥� project could improve cancer care
A 拢4.5million 糖心视频 project to produce bubble-sized 鈥榣aboratories鈥� could boost cancer treatment, medical imaging and industrial processes.
Researchers aim to use high-powered lasers to conduct experiments in plasma bubbles so tiny that their diameters are equivalent to one tenth of a cross-section of a human hair. Plasma forms 99.999% of the matter in the universe.
Professor Dino Jaroszynski, of Strathclyde鈥檚 Department of Physics, said: 鈥淲e have a clear focus on fundamental physics but strive to apply the knowledge we gain. Important applications are medical, which could have a profound impact on society and quality of life.
鈥淎nother important objective is to reduce the size of coherent X-ray sources from kilometres to millimetres. Current X-ray free-electron lasers are kilometres long and cost up to 鈧�1billion. We plan to make coherent X-ray sources widely available and relatively inexpensive, thus enabling many, many applications.
鈥淪hort duration and brilliant pulses of X-rays are very useful for following the dynamics of the structure of matter, to monitor chemical reactions, or for taking holographic snapshots to make 3D microscopic movies.
鈥淭here is, of course, a large demand for improved cancer therapy in the UK. Particle therapy is currently seen as a possible route for improving treatment of certain types of cancer and the quality of life of patients 鈥� particularly young children.
鈥淭he benefits of the project will be wide-ranging, from pure academic research to numerous new applications in medicine and industry.
鈥淪ome of these applications could have a very high impact, including improvements in medical radiotherapy, nuclear fusion, and imaging of dense matter.鈥�
Professor Jaroszynski believes that, by creating the bubble-sized radiation sources and compact accelerators, his team鈥檚 research could also drive improvements in other sectors.
He said: 鈥淐ompact gamma-ray sources could have an impact on the detection of nuclear material at borders, which would contribute to enhancing global security.
鈥淚maging of stored nuclear waste could also have an impact on the legacy of nuclear power generation.鈥�
Professor Jaroszynski told of his excitement at receiving the 拢4.5 million EPSRC funding.
He added: 鈥淚鈥檓 incredibly honoured to be given this support and it鈥檚 an acknowledgement of the fantastic work carried out by my research team.
鈥淚鈥檓 passionate about the basic physics but the really important part of this project is that it will benefit people鈥檚 lives 鈥� and, ultimately, help save them too through improved diagnosis and treatment.鈥�
Co-investigators on the project include the Universities of Glasgow and St Andrews, and Lancaster University.
21 June 2016