REVIEW article
Front. Phys.
Sec. Medical Physics and Imaging
From tumors to stars: Cherenkov radiation as a cross-disciplinary tool bridging oncology, imaging, and space sciences
Provisionally accepted
Mostafa Salim Mohammed1
Bilal Midhin2*Laith Saheb3
Tina Saeed Basunduwah4Manashree Mane5Shakti Bedanta Mishra6
Ashish Chauhan7Siya Singla8Hamza Fadhel Hamzah9Israa Alhani10- 1Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University, Najaf, Iraq
- 2Al Maaref University College, Ramadi, Iraq
- 3University of Babylon, Hillah, Iraq
- 4Batterjee Medical College, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- 5JAIN (Deemed-to-be-university) Centre for Nano and Material Sciences, Ramanagara, India
- 6SRM Institute of Science and Technology (Deemed to be University), Kattankulathur, India
- 7Uttaranchal University Institute of Management, Dehradun, India
- 8Chitkara Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chandigarh, India
- 9Al-Nisour University College, Baghdad, Iraq
- 10Mazaya University College, Nasiriyah, Iraq
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Cherenkov radiation (CR) is a phenomenon that occurs when a charged particle travels through a medium at a speed greater than the speed of light in that medium. This review explores CR's applications in radiotherapy, dosimetry, and imaging, offering cost-effective and real-time solutions for clinical challenges. In radiation therapy, CR enables precise surface dosimetry, verification of patient position, and real-time monitoring of treatment fields. Cherenkov luminescence imaging (CLI) stands as an effective method because it enables surgeons to conduct image-guided procedures and locate tumors during surgery as well as to perform functional imaging through tomography and endoscopy. There is also a correlation between the amount of captured light and expected dose under certain conditions, yet discrepancies have also been observed and a complete analysis of the theoretical differences has not been conducted. Beyond oncology, CR contributes to space science by detecting cosmic rays, sharing principles with radiation detection in medical settings. By merging optical and nuclear imaging, CR provides high-quality, non-invasive methods to make treatments more precise and improve patient outcomes. This review covers recent progress, examines practical applications, and discusses future possibilities for using CR in routine healthcare settings.
Keywords: cherenkov radiation, optical imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy, Photodynamic therapy
Received: 24 Aug 2025; Accepted: 28 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mohammed, Midhin, Saheb, Basunduwah, Mane, Mishra, Chauhan, Singla, Hamzah and Alhani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Bilal Midhin, bilalmidhin@gmail.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.