Heavy ions refer to subatomic particles that make up atomic nuclei.
Heavy ions include carbon, neon, silicon, and argon. For therapeutic purposes, carbon heavy ions are used due to their exceptional cancer cell-killing ability.
Heavy ion therapy accelerates carbon heavy ions to 80% of the speed of light and directs them at the patient's tumor tissue to destroy cancer cells.
Conventional radiation therapy damages healthy tissue along the path to the tumor, while heavy ions release radiation only after reaching the cancer cells, targeting only the surrounding tissue.
This results in high effectiveness with minimal side effects.
