Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions About Gamma Knife Surgery

What is Gamma Knife® surgery?
Gamma Knife® surgery delivers high doses of pinpointed radiation to treat brain tumors and other neurological disease with minimal damage to normal brain tissue. The most advanced form of stereotactic radiosurgery,Gamma Knife® surgery is often called "knifeless" brain surgery.

How does the Gamma Knife® work?
Gamma Knife® surgery is a unique process that utilizes 201 extremely precise gamma beams to focus and treat a specific area in the brain. The patient wears a helmet-like device called a collimator, which directs the beams to simultaneously merge at a single focal point. Sophisticatedly merged together with pinpoint precision, the beams work similar to a magnifying glass in the sun.

Detailed imaging, high-tech equipment and a specialized medical team work in conjunction. A three-dimensional treatment plan is created and used to guide the procedure.

Gamma Knife® surgery is silent and patients are fully awake and able to communicate with the physicians.

How do patients benefit from Gamma Knife® surgery?
Gamma Knife® surgery avoids surgically opening the skull, with favorable results for the patient's quality of life, treatment cost, clinical outcomes and reduction of complications. After typical open brain surgery, patients 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 within a few days.

When is Gamma Knife® surgery used?
Gamma Knife® surgery is used most often to treat intracranial tumors, including AVMs, vestibular schwannomas, meningiomas, pituitary tumors, trigeminal neuralgia and brain metastases. It is also used for vascular treatments, and research is being conducted on other possible uses for Gamma Knife®, such as treating epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and uveal melanoma.

Is Gamma Knife® surgery safe?
Non-invasive surgery exposes patients to the least amount of risk. After Gamma Knife® surgery, some patients may experience a mild headache or slight swelling where the frame was attached, but most report no problems. Patients generally go home within 24 hours and resume normal activities within a few days.

As the gold standard for intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery (knifeless brain surgery), the Elekta Leksell Gamma Knife® has become the most trusted radiosurgery product in the world with proven results documented in more than 2,000 peer-reviewed published papers.