Il CERN di Ginevra e il Politecnico federale di Losanna (EPFL) hanno sviluppato una nuova macchina che utilizza una tecnica di punta, l'adroterapia, per trattare i tumori. Rispetto ai due mastodontici apparecchi finora esistenti, CERN e EPFL ne hanno sperimentato uno molto più piccolo e meno complesso, ribattezzato GaToroid. Con questa macchina "rivoluzionaria" si potranno trattare più malati di cancro rispetto ad oggi.
L'adroterapia è una forma di radioterapia a fasci esterni che utilizza fasci di protoni, neutroni o ioni positivi per trattare i tumori spesso inoperabili o resistenti ai tradizionali trattamenti. Attualmente, spiega un comunicato, esistono due macchine superconduttrici per terapie di questo tipo al mondo: ma una - a Heidelberg, in Germania - misura circa 13 metri di altezza e 25 di lunghezza per un peso di oltre 600 tonnellate, e l'altra - a Chiba, in Giappone - è alta 11 metri e lunga 13 per un peso di 250 tonnellate.
Il primo modello GaToroid è in corso di fabbricazione, sarà pronto nel prossimo decennio.
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