The application of microbeam in the research on radiation-induced bystander effects

There has been more and more attention to the phenomenon known as radiation-induced bystander effects,which will have a tremendous effect on the research in low-dose radiation biological effects.However,due to the stochastic nature of energy deposition and the random position of tracts,direct evidence for bystander effects and exact results of single particle interacts with a cell cannot be provided by using conventional broad-field irradiation.The availability of microbeam,especially the single particle microbeam in the world,whereby individual cells or precise location of cells can be irradiated with either a single or an exact number of particles provides a useful tool for the research on radiation-induced bystander effects.This report describes the radiation-induced bystander effect and the application of microbeam in the research on it.