Slashdot Mirror
A Robotic Cyberknife To Fight Cancer
Roland Piquepaille writes "The Cyberknife is not a real knife. This is a robot radiotherapy machine which works with great accuracy during treatment, thanks to its robotic arm which moves around a patient when he breathes. According to BBC News, the first Cyberknife will be operational in February 2009 in London, UK. But other machines have been installed in more than 15 countries, and have permitted doctors to treat 50,000 patients in the first semester of 2008. And the Cyberknife is more efficient than conventional radiotherapy devices. The current systems require twenty or more short sessions with low-dose radiation. On the contrary, and because it's extremely precise, a Cyberknife can deliver powerful radiation in just three sessions."
Yes, it will be much better when people quit smoking, burning coal and polluting the world with hormones, nasty pesticides and unneeded plasticisers. Cancer will always be with us, but there does not have to be as much of it.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
I noticed that England is getting it's first cyberknife, well after france has 3, even vietnam already has one.
I also noticed that it will be to treat private patients, with only a few NHS patients being served. The truth is that medicine is always rationed. Especially in countries with nationalized medicine.