What is a Linear Accelerator and how does it work?
Medical linear accelerators are the key systems used for delivering radiotherapy treatments. Standing approximately nine feet tall by nearly 15 feet long and weighing as much as 18,700 pounds, the accelerator consists of four major components: an electronics cabinet called a “stand,” housing a microwave energy generating source; a rotating gantry containing the accelerator structure that rotates around the patient; an adjustable treatment couch; and operating electronics. Accelerators are located within specially constructed concrete treatment rooms to provide X-ray shielding. In operation, microwave energy, similar to that used in satellite television transmission, is used to accelerate electrons to nearly the speed of light (186,000 miles per second). They attain this velocity in a short distance, typically one meter or less. As they reach maximum speed they collide with a tungsten target, which in turn releases photons, or X-rays, with such energy they are measured in millions of vo
