For patients suffering from brain disorders, Gamma Knife® surgery offers a proven alternative to invasive surgery. Leksell Gamma Knife is not really a knife at all; rather, it consists of very precisely focused beams of radiation that are directed to the treatment area in the brain. There is no incision, no blood and virtually no pain.
Even with microsurgery, patients having open skull surgery can expect to spend up to two weeks in the hospital and months convalescing at home. Non-invasive Gamma Knife surgery is completed in a matter of hours. Patients generally go home within 24 hours and resume normal activities with a few days.
Gamma Knife surgery avoids surgically opening the skull, providing much more favorable results for patient’s quality of life, treatment cost, clinical outcomes and reduction of complication.
Gamma Knife surgery is used for a variety of neurological disorders, including arteriovenous malformations, vestibular schwannomas, meningiomas, pituitary tumors, trigeminal neuralgia and brain metastases. Research is being conducted on other possible uses of Leksell Gamma Knife® as well, such as treating epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and uveal melanoma.
How does it work
Leksell Gamma Knife delivers very high doses of radiation to targeted areas while minimizing exposure to the normal brain tissue surrounding the problem area. The technique is simple, quick and painless, with treatment carried out in a single session in a matter of hours.
During the treatment session, one or several intra-cerebral lesions are very precisely irradiated to stop growth of tumors, to induce changes in blood vessels in the brain (arteriovenous malformations), or to alter function (hormone-producing tumors in the pituitary gland and pain sensations in the trigeminal nerve).
Advanced computer software develops precise instructions to create irregular shapes that overlap to conform to the targeted area. Then the automatic positioning system moves the patient at every phase to ensure treatment is delivered to exactly the right area…quickly, painlessly, effectively.
Over the past few decades, Leksell Gamma Knife® has become the most trusted radio-surgery product in the world, with more than 30,000 people treated every year. There are more than 200 Leksell Gamma Knives® in operation around the world, with one of the newest models installed at Saint Joseph’s Hospital.
Designed to be a surgical tool for neurosurgeons, the pinpoint accuracy of Gamma Knife® surgery is unmatched and offers the precision of “painting with a fine brush.” Each patient receives an individualized plan ensuring the treatment closely conforms to their targeted area. The high level of precision and accuracy by the Gamma Knife® to the treatment area allows the delivery of very high doses of radiation exactly where it is needed.
- Gamma Knife® surgery uses a frame and standard imaging procedure (such as MRI, CT scans, or angiography) to establish the exact 3-dimensional spatial co-ordinates of the problem area.
- Beams are targeted on different points within the lesion. These isocenters are spheres which, when overlapped, create a non-spherical shape that exactly follows the outlines of the targeted area.
- Computer software helps the highly trained Gamma Center medical staff determine which beams to block to make the ‘shape’ of the radiation field fit the target.
- The software also indicates which collimators to use. A collimator is a device for making beams thinner, and therefore more focused.
For more information, please contact:
Rebecca O. Heitkam, RN, BSN, CCRN, coordinator
Gamma Knife Center
Saint Joseph's Hospital
404-851-5513
or toll free at 1-866-SJGAMMA
or email
rheitkam@sjha.org
