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.