What are the applications of the cyclotron in biology?

Answer 1

We can use the cyclotron to irradiate biological or living material. Investigators might do this to study the effects of radiation on organisms. The beam created by the cyclotron can also be used to "light up" subject material to better study certain aspects of it. In proton therapy, the cyclotron creates a beam of energetic protons that are directly used to "dose" tissue that physicians determine would provide therapeutic effects. The cyclotron can also be used to create radioactive materials that can then be used in imaging and also in tracing chemical movements in living tissue. These radionuclides are generally short-lived and are made "on demand" for specific experiments in Biology. They have shed light and given us amazing insight into the chemical processes within all kinds of living things - including how our own bodies work. A lot of the pioneering work that led up the development and introduction of proton therapy in nuclear medicine was done using cyclotrons as research tools. After all, the cyclotron is used in actual proton treatment facilities as the proton source.