What is the gamma knife?

Gamma Knife is a piece of equipment used in non -invasive neurosurgery. Despite the name, the gamma knife is not a knife at all. Instead, it provides radiation to a precisely targeted point inside the brain to disrupt abnormality, such as a tumor or arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Gamma -knife surgery is also used to treat certain conditions of pain and seizures by removing areas of the brain that work abnormally.

This device is used in a technique known as stereotactic radiosurgery. The gamma knife is able to supply over 200 rays of radiation that can be attached to one point. One beam does not cause damage to radiation, but the area in which the beams converge is characterized by very high radiation, which can damage cells such as cells that form a tumor. In stereotactic radiosurgery, concentrated radiation is used to target one area, while the rest of the brain leaves intact. Non -invasive surgical techniques great reduce the risk of complications such as infections.

Gamma Knife was developed at the age of 60 by Swedish doctors and is now used worldwide. When patients receive the treatment of this device, they are first equipped with a head frame that is screwed to the skull. Then the brain is displayed using medical imaging techniques. This data is fed to the computer and are used for calculations that determine where the rays of the radiation should be converged and how much it should be delivered. This may take several hours during which the patient can rest in another area.

Furthermore, the patient is placed inside the machine. The head frame is used to perfectly hold the head and to create a reference frame to ensure that the radiation is delivered exactly to the right place. This may only require one dose to treat gamma knife to make it Complete and the treatment is painless and quiet. Many patients can go home on the same day and start watching care for a condition that brought them to a neurosurgical suite.

The greatest risk of gamma knife surgery is the swelling of the brain that can be treated with drugs to prevent inflammation. It may take weeks for radiation to be performed because damaged cells fail to promote, allowing the area of ​​abnormality to reduce. Patients receiving stereotactic radiosurgery are usually aimed at participating in a number of subsequent meetings that can be used to determine whether the operation has been effective and which further steps need to be taken if they exist to be successful.