but could be done in regular unshielded ORs. Currently, the Mobetron, LIAC, and NOVAC-7 linear accelerators are improving patient care by delivering intraoperative radiation electron beam therapy to cancer patients during surgery. All three units are compact and mobile. Invented in the U.S. in 1997, the Mobetron uses X-band technology and a soft docking system. The LIAC and NOVAC-7 are robotic devices developed in Italy that use S-band technology and a hard-docking system. The NOVAC-7 became available for clinical use in the 1990s while the LIAC was introduced to a clinical environment in 2003. Other non-IOERT mobile units have been developed as well. In 1998, a technique called TARGIT (targeted intraoperative radio therapy) was designed at the University College London for treating the tumor bed after wide local excision (lumpectomy) of breast cancer. TARGIT uses a miniature and mobile X-ray source that emits low energy X-ray radiation (max. 50 kV) in isotropic distribution. (IO)-brachytherapy with MammoSite is also used to treat breast cancer. Interest in this treatment technique is growing, due in part to the development of LINAC for IOERT by factories. See also External beam radiotherapy (EBRT) Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) Targeted intraoperative radiotherapy (TARGIT) References External links Internal radiation therapy, cancer.org Electron beams in medical applications Radiation therapy procedures