Neurosurgery

How Gamma Knife Works

Since the gamma knife’s introduction in 1949, Leksell has continuously improved its technology and expanded gamma knife application. The technology builds on experience from treating more than one million patients and knowledge shared through 2,500 peer-reviewed papers.

 
Neurosurgery medical staff
The Gamma Knife Center at Rhode Island Hospital, one of the first gamma knife centers in the United States, has been utilizing this technology for more than 30 years.

Perfexion has a radiological accuracy of less than half a millimeter, as it uses nearly 200 radiation beams from cobalt-60 sources that converge with high accuracy on a single target. Each of Perfexion’s beams is low-intensity and, therefore, does not affect the tissue through which it passes on its way to the target. The beams converge in an isocenter where the cumulative radiation intensity becomes extremely high and effective. Multiple lesions may be seamlessly treated during one session.

The system identifies the treatment area using the latest in digital imaging. Perfexion integrates imaging from CT scan, MRI and other modalities with the team’s treatment plan, allowing a flow of information that ensures the optimal dose of radiation.

Gamma Knife Advances

Perfexion, the latest generation of gamma knife technology, provides critical improvements to previous systems, including:

  • Treatment of previously inaccessible areas
  • Easier, quicker planning for treatment of a single lesion or multiple lesions
  • Significantly reduced treatment time compared to previous systems
  • An improved design that enables improved dose sculpting and dynamic shaping, resulting in further protection of nearby tissue

More about Gamma Knife at Rhode Island Hospital