BRAIN - RADIOSURGERY

Gamma Knife Radiosurgery The Gamma Knife is truly “surgery without an incision.” The Gamma Knife can provide significant benefits to patients without the risks of more traditional neurosurgery. The Gamma Knife is used to treat four types of problems; brain tumors, vascular malformations, movement disorders, and trigeminal neuralgia. Brain tumors including meningiomas, acoustic neuromas, gliomas, and metastatic brain tumors may be treated with the Gamma Knife. Vascular malformations such as AVMs (arteriovenous malformations) have also been successfully treated with the Gamma Knife. The movement disorders that are treated with the Gamma Knife include Parkinson’s disease tremor and essential tremor. Finally, trigeminal neuralgia may be treated with the Gamma Knife.

Radiosurgery is a “patient friendly” procedure that does not require invasive surgery. It allows the patient to be discharged the day of surgery. The Gamma Knife is a unique device that utilizes 201 beams of Cobalt radiation to deliver a focused dose of radiation to a target within the brain while minimizing risk to surrounding tissues. The design of the Gamma Knife allows small areas anywhere in the brain to be treated with high doses of radiation. The precisely targeted radiation of the Gamma Knife limits the amount of radiation to healthy brain around the target.

The number of patients treated with the Gamma Knife has grown exponentially since its innovation in 1967. Currently there are approximately 75 Gamma Knife units in the United States and many more units worldwide. Gamma Knife radiosurgery is performed by a team that includes the neurosurgeon, a radiation oncologist, a medical physicist, and a nurse. As of January 2000, over 100,000 patients have been treated with the Gamma Knife.