What Is Gamma Knife Radiosurgery?
The Gamma Knife replaces the surgeon’s scalpel with a single, high dose of radiation. Like the surgeon’s scalpel, the radiation eradicates the diseased area with a safe and effective approach. The patient wears a light weight head frame that attaches to a helmet, through which radiation is precisely focused at a single target. Only the tissue being treated receives a very strong dose of radiation while the surrounding tissue remains unharmed. The painless, bloodless procedure is usually performed under local anesthesia with mild sedation. Although the entire procedure takes several hours, the actual treatment takes just 15 minutes to one hour, depending on the size of the lesion being treated. If there are multiple tumors or if the tumor spreads to another area, radiosurgery can be repeated. There is no risk of surgical complications like infection, hemorrhage or leakage of cerebral spinal fluid.
Gamma Knife (a registered trademark of Elekta Radiosurgery of Atlanta, GA) Radiosurgery replaces the surgeon’s scalpel with a single, high dose of gamma radiation. Like the surgeon’s scalpel, the Gamma Knife eradicates the diseased area with a safe and effective approach. The patient wears a lightweight head frame that attaches to a helmet, through which 201 beams of gamma radiation precisely focus at a single target. Only the tissue being treated receives a very strong dose of radiation while the surrounding tissue remains unharmed.
Related Questions
- Do neurosurgeons performing gamma stereotactic radiosurgery (gamma knife) qualify as authorized users (AUs) with regard to the 64E-5.637(6), FAC, requirement for an AU to be physically present throughout the entire patient treatment involving the unit?
- How is CyberKnife® different from other robotic radiosurgery systems, like Gamma Knife or TomoTherapy?
- What are the results of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery?
