Thwaites David I, Tuohy John B
Radiotherapy Physics, Medical Physics and Engineering, Cookridge Hospital and University of Leeds, Leeds LS16 6QB, UK.
Phys Med Biol. 2006 Jul 7;51(13):R343-62. doi: 10.1088/0031-9155/51/13/R20. Epub 2006 Jun 20.
The linear accelerator (linac) is the accepted workhorse in radiotherapy in 2006. The first medical linac treated its first patient, in London, in 1953, so the use of these machines in clinical practice has been almost co-existent with the lifetime of Physics in Medicine and Biology. This review is a personal selection of things the authors feel are interesting in the history, particularly the early history, and development of clinical linacs. A brief look into the future is also given. One significant theme throughout is the continuity of ideas, building on previous experience. We hope the review might re-connect younger radiotherapy physicists in particular with some of the history and emphasize the continual need, in any human activity, to remain aware of the past, in order to make best use of past experience when taking decisions in the present.
直线加速器（linac）在2006年是放射治疗中公认的主力设备。第一台医用直线加速器于1953年在伦敦为首位患者进行了治疗，所以这些机器在临床实践中的应用几乎与《医学与生物学中的物理学》的存续时间同步。本综述是作者个人对临床直线加速器历史（尤其是早期历史）及发展中认为有趣的内容的挑选。同时也对未来做了简要展望。贯穿始终的一个重要主题是思想的延续性，它建立在以往经验的基础之上。我们希望这篇综述尤其能让年轻的放射治疗物理学家重新了解一些历史，并强调在任何人类活动中持续了解过去的必要性，以便在当下做决策时能充分利用过去的经验。
