What makes CyberKnife unique?
What Makes CyberKnife Unique?
The CyberKnife System is the world’s first and only robotic radiosurgery system designed to treat tumors throughout the body non-invasively. It provides a pain-free, non-surgical option for patients who have inoperable or surgically complex tumors, or who may be looking for an alternative to surgery.
The challenge with the gantry designed, ordinary conventional radiation, Proton and Gamma Knife systems, is that it is virtually impossible to prevent patients and their internal anatomy from moving during radiation treatments without subjecting them to invasive and uncomfortable methods to minimize their movement as much as possible:
- 1. For Brain, Head and Neck treatments, these immobilization techniques can include attaching a metal frame directly into a patient’s skull.
- 2. For treatments to the body including the lung, liver, pancreas and kidney, compression of the abdomen, stabilizing body casts or patient breath holds, are used to limit breathing and movement. (photo)
- 3. For treatments to the prostate an injection of rectal balloons or hardening agents into the rectum are utilized to hold the prostate in place.