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Linear accelerators

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

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Linear accelerators are a source of high energy X-rays, used medically to produce megavoltage irradiation - in the range of 4 to 25 MeV. Thus they can produce more energy than radioactive Cobolt, with a sharper beam edge and no decay of the source.

Linear accelerators accelerate a beam of electrons close to the speed of light. X-rays are emitted when the beam collides with a metal target. Higher energy X-rays penetrate tissue better and are relatively skin-sparing.

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