Recently, the Chinese Academy of Sciences held a press conference and announced that the "Carbon Ion Therapy System" developed by the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences had been approved for the registration of the third category of medical device products. This is the first carbon ion therapy system with independent intellectual property rights in China. It is currently installed in the Wuwei Cancer Hospital in Gansu Province and will become a new type of precise treatment for cancer. The registration of the domestic advanced carbon ion treatment system brings new hope to patients with malignant tumors. It is particularly important to emphasize that high-purity and high-quality copper materials are the protagonists in the system hardware to ensure the accurate and stable beam formation of the treatment system. Operation plays a key role.
Bragg Peak-"Precision Guidance" Cancer Killer
The carbon ion rays used in the carbon ion therapy system are a type of heavy ion rays and have obvious advantages in the treatment of cancer. Radiation therapy is abbreviated as "radiotherapy", which is a physical treatment method in principle. Compared with "chemotherapy" that requires chemical agents, physical therapy has less harm to the human body, shorter treatment course, fewer sequelae, and better prognosis. Patients It can avoid the pain of long-term and repeated treatment. In addition, carbon ion rays have unique physical and biological characteristics, which improves the efficiency of treatment while reducing harm to patients. In the process of traversing human biological tissues, the dose of carbon ion rays is mainly deposited at the end of its range, forming a sharp "Bragg peak", while the other parts of the rays are not high in energy, and the harm to the human body is relatively small. In addition, carbon ion radiation can cut DNA double bonds, compared with X-rays and other photon rays can only cause DNA single-strand breaks, the killing is stronger, and the biological effect is about three times higher than conventional radiotherapy.
During the treatment, the doctors used carbon ion rays to use the "Bragg peak" as a scalpel, and controlled the dose of radiation to make the "Bragg peak" fall on the tumor lesion accurately. In this way, on the one hand, it can achieve "precision strike" on the site of cancer, on the other hand, it reduces the impact on non-treatment sites. The scanning depth of the carbon ion therapy instrument can reach 27 cm in the human body. With the horizontal, vertical and 45-degree treatment terminals, it can basically achieve effective treatment of tumors in any part of the human body.
High-purity and high-quality copper materials and carbon ion treatment system-the cross-border strong combination is different from physical experiments. The ion beam energy of the carbon ion treatment system is only 60% of the beam energy of the laboratory accelerator device, which really affects the treatment of individuals The energy is even smaller, but because it directly applies the ion beam to the human body, the slightest details are all related to life. Therefore, the pursuit of precision, reliability, stability and safety of the treatment system by scientists is almost harsh, and extremely high requirements are placed on the materials. As an important material for the system, copper plays an important role in hardware devices such as ion sources, magnets and power supplies, and high-frequency.
The first domestic carbon ion treatment system uses high-purity oxygen-free copper as the material for various types of accelerator copper wires, electron beam emission tubes, high-frequency systems, etc., which fully utilizes copper's excellent electrical conductivity, natural anti-magnetic and Excellent heat dissipation. It not only ensures the stability of the current and the energy level of the beam current under high current conditions, but also avoids the magnetic interference caused by the devices and cables under high current conditions on the charged ions, and also realizes the equipment and system under long-term operating conditions. Effective heat dissipation and long-term stability.
Medical health-new application areas of copper
The unique advantages of the carbon ion therapy system can reduce the pain of patients to the greatest extent and protect the dignity of patients. In recent years, it has been highly valued by the state. In 2016, the State Council's "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" National Strategic Emerging Industries Development Plan clearly proposed to support the development of new radiation sources such as ions and neutrons, and the development of precision medical equipment.
At present, the domestic carbon ion therapy system uses high-purity oxygen-free copper with a purity greater than 99.97%. As its accelerator and other hardware devices and materials for cables of various voltage levels, the amount of copper used in a therapeutic system can reach 120 to 150 tons. In addition, each system must be built in a professional cancer treatment hospital. As a special building, the hospital is equipped with copper and wires for medical construction, medical equipment, medical inspection equipment, medical gas systems, vacuum systems, etc. The amount of copper used is even higher. With the strong support of the national health protection policy related to medical health, the carbon ion therapy system (including proton therapy system) is expected to usher in further promotion, opening up new terminal application fields for various types of advanced copper materials with high purity, superior quality and high quality .
A person from the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said that the next generation of the second-generation treatment system will be smaller, more advanced, and lower cost. Copper materials that combine excellent electrical conductivity and diamagnetic properties will continue to be carbon ion treatment systems The stable operation of the escort.