Treatment Procedure

Gamma Knife is an FDA approved radiosurgical device
for treating Metastatic Brain tumors.

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Captioned VIDEO —All About Your Gamma Knife Procedure

Gamma Knife Radiosurgery—
Before, During and After
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Your Gamma Knife Surgery
Discharge Instructions
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Admission

After admission to the Central New York Gamma Knife Center, the patient is prepared for the first stage of the Gamma Knife procedure, which involves placing the patient's head in the Leksell Stereotactic Coordinate Frame. The patient is lightly sedated, and local anesthetic is used on the spots where four small screws will secure the helmet to the head. The wounds from these screws are tiny, heal quickly and leave no scars. The patient's head does not have to be shaved. The frame is secured throughout the treatment stages and positions and immobilizes the patient's head inside the collimator helmet. It also provides the basis for determining the target coordinates.

Neuroimaging

With the head frame attached, the patient has an MRI or a CT scan to localize the lesion's shape and gather as much information as possible about the lesion and surrounding structures. These painless tests take about an hour.

Dose Planning

The MRI and CT images are then fed into a dedicated computer system used to plot the trajectory and doses of the radiation. This stage of the treatment planning involves the entire Gamma Knife team, including the neurosurgeon, radiation oncologist and medical physicist. Dose distribution generally takes less than one hour. This is the most labor-intensive phase of the Gamma Knife treatment, because the radiation trajectory must be tailored to the exact geometry of the lesion. (On request. patient may be able to see a demonstration of the treatment plan on the comuter screen.)

Treatment

At this stage, the patient is placed on the couch of the Gamma Knife unit, and the patient's head is placed in the collimator helmet. This helmet positions the lesion at the exact point where the 201 beams of radiation will intersect. The physicians then leave the room and administer the treatment from a control panel. The patient is moved into the heavily shielded Gamma Knife unit for the painless radiation treatment, which usually lasts 20 to 40 minutes. During the treatment, the patient is monitored by a video system and may communicate through a two-way intercom.

Post-Operative Care

After Gamma Knife treatment, the patient will be observation for about one hour and then discharged to home. Once discharged, the patient can return to regular activity, such as work, within a few days. Patients are seen in follow-up by both the Neurosurgeon and the Radiation Oncologist, usually about four weeks after their surgery. Then they will be seen at different intervals as individually determined by their physicians.