Gamma knife for brain surgery sans scalpel
Posted on 05. Aug, 2010 by admin in Health
A team of Australian scientists successfuly used Gamma knife to do a brain surgery for treating brain cancer.
The team of scientists from across the globe carried the experiment at the Macquarie University Hospital, Sydney using Gamma knife (gamma rays as non-invasive surgical device) for treating brain cancer as well as brain-associated conditions. Although the name has knife (Gamma Knife) in it, it is no real cut equipment because it will neither incise any part of the brain, nor will there be any bleeding when it is used.
How is the gamma knife stereotactic surgey done?
The gamma knife takes 200 radiation beams via Cobalt60 and converge at the target site in the brain, with very high precision. The individual beams are low in intensity, so cannot affect the tissue/s that they pass through to the target area; however when all the radiation beams converge at the target site, cumulatively, the intensity increases and becomes potent enough to kill the cancer cells.
Dr. John Fuller and his team conducted the first brain surgery in Australia, using the gamma knife equipment. Dr. Fuller and his team could precisely operate multiple brain tumors in a patient using the Gamma knife. The patient received a local anesthetic and was awake during the entire surgery which lasted just about an hour.
To sum it up, the gamma knife stereotactic surgeries mean higher precision surgeries, short stays in the hospital and lesser recuperating time (physically, mentally and emotionally).
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