Patty,
Christine had Gamma Knife 3 times and all took less than 3 1/2 hours.
Lily,
Gamma Knife has been used for 20 years but the features on the machines are constantly being upgraded and is comparable to Cyberknife.
I am not advocating one over the other but wanted to point out that they both use the same technology
Competition to treat benign and malignant brain lesions, vascular malformations, and functional conditions with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) has increased dramatically in recent years. All-in-one systems like the Accuray CyberKnife® are aggressively positioning themselves as being comparable to the Leksell Gamma Knife® in effectiveness and efficiency.
Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery is the gold standard for the treatment of intracranial SRS procedures. Its clinical efficacy has been documented across nearly four decades, with more than 350,000 cases treated worldwide providing the data for 2,000+ publications in peer-reviewed medical literature. It is used as the performance metric against which other technologies (such as the Accuray CyberKnife®) are measured. Gamma Knife® has the most accurate dose planning, the most conformal treatment and lowest dose of radiation to normal tissue.
What is critical is the difference in dose outside the target for Gamma Knife® compared to the Accuray CyberKnife®.
Perhaps the easiest way is to compare, point for point, the Gamma Knife® with the Accuray CyberKnife®.
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Gamma Knife®
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Accuray CyberKnife®
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%" bgColor=#e1f0fd height=77>201 source cobalt unit designed exclusively for non-invasive brain surgery</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%" bgColor=#e1f0fd height=77>Single source linear accelerator with robotic arm to compensate for patient movement during treatment; not exclusively used for intracranial SRS</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%" bgColor=#e1f0fd>Radiological accuracy better than 0.3mm</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%" bgColor=#e1f0fd>1 mm accuracy; dose outside the target area is 2-6x greater than with the Gamma Knife®</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%" bgColor=#e1f0fd>Rigid immobilization to prevent head movement using a lightweight stereotactic head frame fixed to the outer skull. Provides exact MR and CT correlation from planning to treatment delivery in 3D</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%" bgColor=#e1f0fd>Non-rigid immobilization reduces head movement by using a thermoplastic face mask that is shrink-wrapped to the table during treatment. Provides relative MR and CT correlation from planning to treatment delivery in 3D. The Accuray CyberKnife® is inherently less accurate since the positioning is optically guided, not head-frame based</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%" bgColor=#e1f0fd>Treatment delivered during one session</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%" bgColor=#e1f0fd>Single or multiple treatments, possibly over a period of days</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%" bgColor=#e1f0fd>Target position is confirmed 10 times per second</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%" bgColor=#e1f0fd>Target position confirmed once every 10 seconds</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>