Pion radiotherapy uses subatomic particles called pions that are produced when a target is bombarded with protons. Pions are selected by momentum and lose energy as they travel through tissue until they are captured by a tumor nucleus. This makes the nucleus unstable and it breaks apart violently, damaging nearby cells with fragments over a small radius. Although pion therapy centers opened in the past, results were no better than X-ray therapy and it is now only used for clinical research.