From Particle Accelerator to Medical Equipment
A report by Sascha QuaiserOne spin-off application of the LHC experiment is the Clear-PEM diagnostic unit, currently undergoing final tests in Portugal. Its developers claim it will be the best breast cancer detector on the market.
The crystal matrices in this device were developed for the LHC to measure the energy of electrons and photons and - it's hoped - to help detect the elusive Higgs boson. The medical apparatus is just one example of the uses to which technology developed at CERN is being put.