Editing Collimator (section)

===In radiation therapy===
Collimators (beam limiting devices) are used in [[linear accelerators]] used for [[radiotherapy]] treatments. They help to shape the beam of radiation emerging from the machine and can limit the maximum field size of a beam.

The treatment head of a linear accelerator consists of both a primary and secondary collimator. The primary collimator is positioned after the electron beam has reached a vertical orientation. When using photons, it is placed after the beam has passed through the X-ray target. The secondary collimator is positioned after either a flattening filter (for photon therapy) or a scattering foil (for electron therapy). The secondary collimator consists of two jaws which can be moved to either enlarge or minimize the size of the treatment field.

New systems involving [[multileaf collimator]]s (MLCs) are used to further shape a beam to localise treatment fields in radiotherapy. MLCs consist of approximately 50–120 leaves of heavy, metal collimator plates which slide into place to form the desired field shape.