Gamma knife
The Gamma Knife , also Leksell Gamma Knife (English knife = 'knife'), is a radiation therapy device from the Swedish manufacturer Elekta . It is used for the so-called stereotactic radiosurgery of brain tumors and vascular malformations . High- dose gamma rays from 201 individual radioactive cobalt -60 sources are directed through a helmet-shaped collimator with appropriate holes onto the patient's head. The needle-shaped beams can be aimed at a point with high accuracy.
The first gamma knife was developed by the Stockholm neurosurgeon Lars Leksell and the radiobiologist Börje Larsson from Uppsala and put into operation in 1968 at Sophiahemmet Hospital in Stockholm. The stereotactic radiosurgery developed Leksell already 1951st
More than 500 devices are installed and in operation worldwide. There are six Gamma Knife centers in Germany (Krefeld, Frankfurt, Bochum, Hanover, Hamburg and Mannheim). Its spherical, semi-closed design makes it ideal for the treatment of brain tumors. Linear accelerators are used for tumors in other body regions .
The first gamma knife device was used in Central Europe in April 1992 under Gerhard Pendl at the University Clinic for Neurosurgery in Graz.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ L. Leksell: Stereotactic radiosurgery. In: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. Volume 46, Number 9, Sept. 1983, pp. 797-803, ISSN 0022-3050 . PMID 6352865 .
- ↑ DG Leksell: Stereotactic radiosurgery. Present status and future trends. In: Neurological research. Volume 9, Number 2, June 1987, pp. 60-68, ISSN 0161-6412 . PMID 2886946 . (Review).
- ^ L. Leksell: The stereotactic method and radiosurgery of the brain. In: Acta Chir Scand. Vol. 102, 1951, pp. 316-319.
- ↑ 500th Leksell Gamma Knife begins patient treatments in Brazil ( Memento of the original from May 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
