What is the Gamma Knife?
“This is a method of treating benign and malignant brain lesions that can give the same results as surgery without making an incision,”Dr. Charles L. Branch Jr., Associate Professor of Neurosurgery Branch established the Medical Center’s LINAC Stereotactic Radiosurgery Program. The Gamma Knife procedure, a type of stereotactic radiosurgery, bombards lesions with enough radiation to destroy them even in the most critical, difficult-to-access areas of the brain without delivering significant does to healthy normal brain tissue. The Gamma Knife delivers a high dose of ionizing radiation emanating from 201 cobalt-60 sources. Faster and more precise than other radiosurgical tools currently available, the Gamma Knife treatment team guides the radiation to a target previously defined by advanced imaging techniques. The 201 individual beams simultaneously intersect with the accuracy of less than one-tenth of a millimeter (about the thickness of a sheet of paper).
The Gamma Knife is not actually a knife at all. It is a stereotactic radiosurgical device that non-invasively treats malignant and benign brain tumors, vascular malformations and trigeminal neuralgia in a single patient visit. Patients are treated on an out-patient basis or may require an overnight hospital stay.
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?
- When Is Gamma Knife Treatment Used for Parkinsons Disease?
