DEVICE THAT DESTROYS CANCER IN 15 MINUTES

A super-accurate radiotherapy device that can target tumours deep inside the body is now bringing new hope to UK cancer patients.



Radiosurgery is a non-invasive cancer treatment in which targeted radiation beams are used to destroy or shrink tumours. But the Novalis Tx device tailors these beams to match the exact shape, size and position of a tumour in the body. This means that a more intense beam can be used without causing damage to surrounding tissue. The device can also manoeuvre the beams to reach tumours deep inside the body, such as in the spinal cord, which were previously inaccessible.



The system uses X-ray images of a tumour to monitor its position, and can even adapt when growths - such as those in the lungs - move as the patient breathes. It responds by only zapping the tumour when it returns to its original position after each breath (see video, above).



Patients who would normally have to spend months recovering from complicated open surgery to remove brain tumours can now be treated in one session and return to normal life the following day. In some cases, cancer patients can be treated in just fifteen minutes.



The machine was launched at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool, UK, this week and is due to be set up in medical centres in Manchester and Edinburgh later this year.

Scientists may have discovered Nibiru Planet- Its up to four Times the size of Jupiter

Scientists believe they may have found a new planet in the far reaches of the solar system, up to four times the mass of Jupiter.



Its orbit would be thousands of times further from the Sun than the Earth's - which could explain why it has so far remained undiscovered.



Data which could prove the existence of Tyche, a gas giant in the outer Oort Cloud, is set to be released later this year - although some believe proof has already been garnered by Nasa with its pace telescope, Wise, and is waiting to be pored over.



He added he believes it will mainly be made of hydrogen and helium, with an atmosphere like Jupiter's, with spots and rings and clouds, adding: 'You'd also expect it to have moons. All the outer planets have them.'



He believes the planet is so huge, it will ahve a raised temperature left from its formation that will make it far higher than others, such as Pluto, at -73C, as 'it takes an object this size a long time to cool off'.



He and Prof Matese first suggested Tyche existed because of the angle comets were arriving, with a fifth of the expected number since 1898 entering higher than expected.



However, Tyche - if it exists - should also dislodge comets closer to home, from the  inner Oort Cloud, but they have not been seen.



If confirmed, the status and name of the new planet - which would become the ninth and potentially the largest - would then have to be agreed by the International Astronomical Union.



Currently named Tyche, from the Greek goddess that governed the destiny of a city, its name may have to change, as it originated from a theory which has now been largely abandoned.