The Alpha Particle or Proton Beam in Radiosurgery of the Pituitary Gland for Cushing's Disease

IN the early days of the modern nuclear era, one of the first studies carried out as a means of assessing the danger from some of the radiations from the nuclear age was on the biologic effects of neutron rays. These neutral heavy particles, having the approximate weight of a proton, are approximately two thousand times as heavy as electrons and are called heavy for this reason. The early workers around the cyclotron were being constantly bombarded by these particles in addition to gamma rays, and they asked themselves, "What would be the safe daily dose?" For this reason it . . .