Superconductivity in Medicine

Abstract

Superconductivity is playing an increasingly important role in advanced medical technologies. Compact superconducting cyclotrons are emerging as powerful tools for external beam therapy with protons and carbon ions, and offer advantages of cost and size reduction in isotope production as well. Superconducting magnets in isocentric gantries reduce their size and weight to practical proportions. In diagnostic imaging, superconducting magnets have been crucial for the successful clinical implementation of magnetic resonance imaging. This article introduces each of those areas and describes the role which superconductivity is playing in them.